IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchBattre son plein
Meaning: To be in full swing.
Literally: To be at its full
Example: “À minuit, la fête battait son plein.” — At midnight, the party was in full swing.
English equivalent: In full swing
Equivalents in other languages
German: Da steppt der Bär Literally: The bear dances there
English: in full swing
Origin: Son here is the possessive, and plein is the full tide — the sea beating at its own high water. It is regularly misanalyzed as son meaning sound, which produces confident but wrong explanations.
More French idioms
- La portion congrue A bare minimum, grudgingly given.
- Saoul comme un Polonais Extremely drunk.
- Défendre son pré carré To protect one's own territory or area of authority.
- Lâcher la proie pour l'ombre To give up something real in pursuit of something illusory.
- Une victoire à la Pyrrhus A win whose cost makes it indistinguishable from defeat.
- En quarantaine In quarantine; isolated from contact.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
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- Un beau ver vert dans un verre vert verra un ver vert. Ver (worm), vert (green), and verre (glass) are near-homophones — distinguishing them at…
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- Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
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