FrenchCrudeAvoir le feu au cul
Meaning: To be in a tearing hurry; or, to be highly sexually eager.
Literally: To have fire in one's backside
Example: “Il a avalé son café et il est reparti ; il a toujours le feu au cul.” — He gulped his coffee and left again; he's always got ants in his pants.
Origin: The hurrying sense is attested from the end of the 17th century, alongside avoir le feu aux trousses with the same meaning — trousses being the hauts-de-chausses that covered thigh and buttock, the same word that survives in avoir quelqu'un à ses trousses, to have someone on your heels. The image needs no explaining: a man whose backside is alight will run, on the reflex hope of leaving the fire behind him, which is not in fact the recommended response. The sexual sense is older still, from the middle of the 16th century, and belongs with être en chaleur (to be in heat), normally said of animals, with the heat placed below the belt. In Quebec the expression means something else entirely — to be angry.
More French idioms
- Mi-figue, mi-raisin Torn between pleasure and displeasure; half in earnest, half in jest.
- Avoir la patate To be on great form; to be full of energy.
- Pas folle, la guêpe ! Said of someone shrewd enough not to be taken in.
- En rester comme deux ronds de flan To be utterly dumbfounded.
- Tirer au flanc To dodge work; to shirk.
- Taper sur le système To get on someone's nerves.
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- L'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt Early risers, and hard workers in general, are the ones who succeed.
- Quand le vin est tiré, il faut le boire Once you have committed to something, you have to go through with it.
- Un malheur ne vient jamais seul Misfortunes tend to come several at once.
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