De conserve
Meaning: Together, in company — not to be confused with de concert.
Language: French
Literally: In convoy
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A nautical term for ships sailing in convoy for mutual protection, from conserver, to keep safe. De concert means by prior agreement; the two are near-homophones and are mixed up constantly, including by careful writers.
More idioms — Daily Life
- 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.
- 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.
More French idioms
- 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.
- Sans coup férir — Without any resistance at all; effortlessly.
- Un coup de fil — A telephone call.
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
- Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.
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