Chercher la petite bête
Meaning: To nitpick; to hunt for a trivial fault.
Language: French
Literally: To look for the little beast
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The petite bête is the louse or flea one searches for by combing minutely through hair or seams. Applied to argument, it describes someone examining a text or plan at exactly that scale.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Passer sur le billard — To undergo surgery.
- Se faire blackbouler — To be rejected, voted down or heavily defeated in an election.
- Une arme blanche — A bladed weapon, as opposed to a firearm.
- Blanchir de l'argent — To launder money.
- Au petit bonheur la chance — Haphazardly, leaving the outcome entirely to chance.
- Avoir la bosse de — To have a natural gift for something, as in avoir la bosse des maths.
More French idioms
- Rabattre le caquet à quelqu'un — To shut someone up; to take an insolent person down a peg.
- Caracoler en tête — To lead by a wide margin, especially in a race or in polls.
- Muet comme une carpe — Completely silent; saying absolutely nothing.
- La caque sent toujours le hareng — However far you rise, low origins always show through.
- Aller à Canossa — To humble oneself completely before someone; to submit and beg forgiveness.
- Parler à la cantonade — To speak to a group at large without addressing anyone in particular.
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.
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