FrenchAvoir les yeux qui sortent de la tête
Meaning: To stare with eyes wide open in anger or astonishment.
Literally: To have eyes that come out of the head
Example: “Quand il a vu le prix du billet, il avait les yeux qui sortaient de la tête.” — When he saw the price of the ticket, his eyes nearly popped out of his head.
English equivalent: One's eyes pop out of one's head
Equivalents in other languages
English: one's eyes pop out of one's head
Origin: The picture is of eyes bulging so far they seem about to leave their sockets. The Académie française recorded it in 1762, when les yeux lui sortent de la tête was said both of someone with very prominent eyes and of a man whose fury shows in his face. Today it is used as often for shock, at a price or a piece of news, as for anger.
More French idioms
- Faire le pont-levis For a horse to rear up very high.
- N’avoir qu’à bien se tenir A warning or threat implying that one must behave properly or face consequences.
- Battre les fourrés To range far and wide in search of adventure or chance encounters.
- Recoller les morceaux to repair a broken relationship or reconcile after a quarrel.
- Brûler ses dernières cartouches to exhaust one's final resources or use one's last arguments in desperation.
- Ne pas tourner rond to be unwell or not functioning properly.
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