Dans le collimateur
Meaning: In someone's sights; singled out for scrutiny.
Language: French
Literally: In the collimator
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A collimator is the optical sight used for aiming artillery and, later, aligning instruments. The phrase entered general French from military use in the 20th century and keeps the sense of deliberate targeting.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Le complexe d'Œdipe — A child's unconscious attachment to the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the other.
- De conserve — Together, in company — not to be confused with de concert.
- On lui donnerait le Bon Dieu sans confession — He looks completely innocent — with the implication that he is not.
- À cor et à cri — Loudly and insistently; demanding something at the top of one's voice.
- La corde au cou — Entirely at someone's mercy; forced to submit on any terms.
- Tenir la corde — To be in the best position to win.
More French idioms
- Tenir les cordons du poêle — To be a pallbearer at a funeral, as a mark of honor.
- La corne d'abondance — A source of inexhaustible abundance.
- Un choix cornélien — A dilemma in which every option requires sacrificing something one is bound to.
- À son corps défendant — Reluctantly; against one's own will.
- Corvéable à merci — Available to be worked without limit and without recourse.
- Avoir la cote — To be well regarded; to be popular.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu es mon rayon de soleil — A warm way to tell someone they brighten your day.
- Joli comme un cœur — Utterly charming or adorable.
- Tu as un cœur d'or — You are genuinely kind and generous.
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