Avoir vu le loup
Meaning: Said of a young woman, to have had sex; also, in some regions, to be hoarse.
Language: French
Literally: To have seen the wolf
Category: Animals
Origin: Before the 18th century this meant only what it says: wolf hunting was dangerous work, and a person who had seen the wolf was seasoned and experienced. Two other phrases pulled it sideways. In the 16th century la danse du loup meant the sexual act — loup was also a word for the male member — and by the 17th danser le branle du loup meant to make love. As the wolf hunt lost its weight, the expression absorbed those senses while keeping the idea of experience, and the young woman who had danced the branle du loup was now experienced in that. It could as easily have been avoir dansé le branle du loup, except that branle — a period dance, but a word that also carries a far cruder sense — was too explicit by half for a matter people preferred to name sideways. The hoarseness is a different thread, nearly lost outside a few regions, and very old — Plato already reports the belief that a man seen by a wolf before he sees it is struck mute and witless, and losing your voice is what the mute and the badly hoarse have in common.
More idioms — Animals
- Enculer les mouches — To split hairs; to fuss over trivial detail. Vulgar.
- Laisser pisser le mérinos — To let things take their course; to wait it out.
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- Avoir le cafard — To feel depressed or down.
- Poser un lapin — To stand someone up on a date.
- Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do.
More French idioms
- Ne pas y aller de main morte — To hit hard; to act without the slightest restraint.
- Bourrer le mou — To feed someone lies; to try to con them.
- Être dans la mouise / Être dans la panade / Être dans la purée — To be broke and in real trouble.
- Faire le mariole — To show off; to play the smart aleck.
- Fumer la moquette — To be talking obvious nonsense; to be off one's head.
- Rouler des mécaniques — To swagger; to throw one's weight around.
From our untranslatable words
- Épanouissement — The full flourishing of a person — blooming into your most complete, radiant self. More t…
- Ressourcement — The act of returning to one's roots or origins to find renewal — going back to a place, t…
- Dépaysement — The disorienting yet often pleasant feeling of being far from home, immersed in the unfam…
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