Con comme une buse
Meaning: Extremely stupid; an utter idiot — a blunt, everyday insult for someone hopelessly slow-witted.
Language: French
Literally: Stupid as a buzzard
Category: Animals
Origin: Con here is the common vulgar-register adjective for "stupid," not its older anatomical sense. Buse is the buzzard, a bird of prey that medieval and early-modern falconers ranked at the bottom of the hierarchy of hunting birds: unlike falcons and hawks, it was considered too sluggish and unteachable to be trained for the hunt. That reputation for uselessness gave buse its figurative sense of "fool" or "ignoramus" by at least the 16th century, and the phrase simply pairs that old sense with the blunt modern intensifier.
More idioms — Animals
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- 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!
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
- Casse-pieds — A massive bore or pain in the neck — someone who wears you down with their irritating way…
- Espèce de patate — You dim bulb — a potato being the very picture of inert, unthinking stodginess.
- Quel râleur / quelle râleuse — You never stop moaning — everything is a complaint, nothing is ever good enough.