IdiomAnimals
French
FrenchComme un poisson dans l'eau
Meaning: Completely at ease in one's element.
Literally: Like a fish in water
Example: “Dès son premier jour en cuisine, elle était comme un poisson dans l'eau.” — From her first day in the kitchen, she took to it like a duck to water.
English equivalent: Like a duck to water
Equivalents in other languages
English: like a duck to water
Origin: The comparison is old enough to appear in Rabelais, and its force is that the fish is not merely comfortable but unable to be anywhere else. English says like a duck to water, which is about taking to something rather than belonging in it.
More French idioms
- Se faire prendre pour un pigeon To be duped as an easy mark.
- Avoir les portugaises ensablées To be hard of hearing.
- Laid comme un pou Extremely ugly.
- Le plancher des vaches Dry land, as seen from the sea.
- Secouer comme un prunier To shake someone violently.
- Le marchand de sable est passé The children are getting sleepy.
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