IdiomBody & Senses
French
FrenchAvoir les yeux de Chimène pour quelqu'un
Meaning: To be visibly smitten with someone or something.
Literally: To have Chimène's eyes for someone
Example: “Le public a les yeux de Chimène pour ce jeune chanteur.” — The audience only has eyes for this young singer.
English equivalent: To only have eyes for someone
Equivalents in other languages
English: only have eyes for
Origin: From Corneille's Le Cid, in which Chimène loves Rodrigue even after he kills her father — a devotion that survives every reason not to feel it. The phrase invokes the helplessness of the attraction rather than its object.
More French idioms
- Aux calendes grecques Never — used of something postponed indefinitely.
- Un cautère sur une jambe de bois A remedy that is completely useless.
- Scier la branche sur laquelle on est assis To destroy the thing your own position depends on.
- Tomber de Charybde en Scylla To escape one danger only to meet a worse one.
- Proposer la botte à quelqu'un To proposition someone sexually.
- Pousser le bouchon un peu loin To go too far; to overstep.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir It is better to stop a problem before it happens than to fix it afterwards.
- On n'a rien sans rien You have to give something, effort or money, to get something.
- On récolte ce que l'on sème Your actions bring consequences that match them.
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