Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard
Meaning: It's nothing special or impressive.
Language: French
Literally: It doesn't break three legs of a duck
Category: Animals
Origin: Absurdist arithmetic: a duck has two legs, so breaking three of them is not merely difficult but impossible, which is what makes the thing being described so unremarkable. The expression is early 20th century, and beyond that even the specialist etymology sites offer almost nothing — no date attached to a named source, no documented first use. A second, weaker theory drags in a cagnard, old slang for a horse with deformed legs, hard to ride and liable to injure its rider — but it comes with no citation either. This is one of the rare cases where the honest answer is that nobody has actually traced it.
More idioms — Animals
- 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.
- Da steppt der Bär — It's going to be a great party.
- Ich glaub mein Schwein pfeift — I can't believe it! That's outrageous!
- Schwein haben — Getting unexpectedly lucky — rooted in medieval tournaments where the last-place finisher…
More French idioms
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Raconter des salades — To tell lies or tall tales.
- En faire tout un fromage — To make a big deal out of nothing.
From our compliments & insults
- Joli comme un cœur — Utterly charming or adorable.
- Tu as un cœur d'or — You are genuinely kind and generous.
- Tu déchires — You're awesome — you totally rock.