FrenchAvoir les deux pieds dans le même sabot
Meaning: To be incapable of acting; to sit there doing nothing.
Literally: To have both feet in the same clog
Example: “Pendant que la maison prend l'eau, il reste là, les deux pieds dans le même sabot.” — While the house floods, he just sits on his hands.
English equivalent: To sit on one's hands
Equivalents in other languages
German: die Hände in den Schoß legen Literally: To lay the hands in the lap
English: sit on one's hands
Origin: Try it and the expression explains itself: feet are made to move one after the other, and both crammed into a single clog leave you unable to do anything but topple over. From there it is a short step to the second sense, since a man who cannot act looks, to anyone who does not know why, exactly like a man who will not. Clogs are ancient but the phrase is not — the first written traces are only at the end of the 19th century. It is most often heard in the negative, where it turns into praise: il est loin d'avoir les deux pieds dans le même sabot means quite the opposite, a man of energy.
More French idioms
- Dormir comme un sabot To sleep very deeply.
- Envoyer la sauce To ejaculate; to fire a burst from a weapon; or to open the throttle. Vulgar in the first…
- Tout schuss Flat out; or straight down, without deviating.
- Chanter comme une casserole To sing badly out of tune.
- Vaincre le signe indien To break a run of bad luck.
- Faire un tabac To be a huge success.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
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- Qui se sent morveux, qu'il se mouche If a criticism applies to you, take it to heart.
- Tel est pris qui croyait prendre Those who set traps for others often fall into them themselves.
- À chacun son métier, et les vaches seront bien gardées Things go best when everyone sticks to what they know.
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