Home › Idioms

Avoir le cul entre deux chaises

Meaning: To be indecisive, caught between two options.

Language: French

Literally: To have one's butt between two chairs

Category: Daily Life

Origin: French expression from the 16th century.

More idioms — Daily Life

  • Les carottes sont cuites — It's too late, nothing can be done.
  • Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof — I don't understand anything at all.
  • Schwein haben — Getting unexpectedly lucky — rooted in medieval tournaments where the last-place finisher…
  • Da liegt der Hund begraben — That's the crux of the matter.
  • 猫の手も借りたい — I'm so busy I'll take help from anyone.
  • Estar en la edad del pavo — To be at an awkward teenage phase.

More French idioms

  • Mettre son grain de sel — To give an unsolicited opinion.
  • Casser les pieds à quelqu'un — To annoy or bore someone greatly.
  • Avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre — To want to have it both ways.
  • Noyer le poisson — To confuse the issue deliberately; to dodge a question.
  • Chercher midi à quatorze heures — To overcomplicate a simple matter.
  • Appeler un chat un chat — To call things by their proper name; to speak bluntly.

← Back to Idioms

Loading the full interactive collection…