IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchBon sang ne saurait mentir
Meaning: Breeding shows in the end.
Literally: Good blood cannot lie
Example: “Fille et petite-fille de chefs, elle a ouvert son restaurant à vingt ans : bon sang ne saurait mentir.” — Daughter and granddaughter of chefs, she opened her restaurant at twenty: blood will tell.
English equivalent: Blood will tell
Origin: An aristocratic proposition about inherited quality, still current long after the theory behind it stopped being respectable. English says blood will tell.
More French idioms
- Pas besoin de sortir de Saint-Cyr It doesn't take a genius to work that out.
- Faire table rase To sweep everything away and start from nothing.
- Prendre le taureau par les cornes To tackle a difficulty head-on instead of avoiding it.
- Les vaches maigres A period of hardship and scarcity — the opposite of les vaches grasses.
- Les vaches grasses A period of plenty.
- Aller comme un tablier à une vache To suit someone appallingly badly.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. An 's' / 'si' minefield.
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