De bon aloi
Meaning: Genuine and of good quality; its opposite, de mauvais aloi, means dubious or in poor taste.
Language: French
Literally: Of good alloy
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Aloi was the legally fixed proportion of precious metal in a coin. Money of good alloy was worth its face value, and the judgment passed from coinage to character and conduct.
More idioms — Daily Life
- L'alpha et l'oméga — The beginning and the end; the entirety of something, or its essential principle.
- Vendre son âme au diable — To sacrifice one's principles for power, wealth or success.
- Faire amende honorable — To publicly admit you were wrong and apologize.
- Bon an, mal an — On average, taking the good years with the bad; year in, year out.
- Le libre arbitre — Free will — the capacity to choose independently of compulsion.
- L'argent n'a pas d'odeur — Money is money regardless of how disreputably it was earned.
More French idioms
- Une Arlésienne — A person or thing endlessly talked about but who never actually appears.
- Signer son arrêt de mort — To take an action that guarantees your own downfall.
- Un homme de l'art — A qualified professional, especially a physician.
- C'est du grand art — That is masterfully done.
- L'enfance de l'art — Utterly elementary; child's play.
- À l'article de la mort — At the very point of dying.
From our tongue twisters
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — An 's' / 'si' minefield.
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. — A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.
- Seize chaises sèches sur seize arches sèches. — A relentless collision of 'sei', 'sèch', and 's' — the tongue can't find traction.
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