Défendre son pré carré
Meaning: To protect one's own territory or area of authority.
Language: French
Literally: To defend one's square field
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Vauban used pré carré for a compact, defensible frontier without awkward salients, arguing France should square off its borders rather than hold scattered outposts. The term moved from fortification to office politics.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Lâcher la proie pour l'ombre — To give up something real in pursuit of something illusory.
- Nul n'est prophète en son pays — Recognition is hardest to win from the people who know you.
- Une victoire à la Pyrrhus — A win whose cost makes it indistinguishable from defeat.
- En quarantaine — In quarantine; isolated from contact.
- Tomber en quenouille — To decline into neglect; to fall apart through mismanagement.
- Sans queue ni tête — Making no sense at all.
More French idioms
- Être sur le qui-vive — To be tensely alert.
- En rade — Stranded; left behind.
- Faire du ramdam — To make a great deal of noise.
- Un remède de bonne femme — A folk cure of doubtful value.
- Tirer sa révérence — To take one's leave, with a show of formality.
- À tour de rôle — Each in turn.
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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