Dire ses quatre vérités à quelqu'un
Meaning: To tell someone exactly what is wrong with them.
Language: French
Literally: To tell someone their four truths
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The four is the conventional round number of French idiom rather than a count, as in se mettre en quatre. It implies a complete accounting delivered in one go.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- Avoir la main verte — To have a gift for growing plants.
- Entrer dans le vif du sujet — To get to the heart of the matter.
- 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.
- Couper les cheveux en quatre — To over-analyze or split hairs.
- Se regarder le nombril — To be self-centered or narcissistic.
More French idioms
- Une vérité de La Palice / Une lapalissade — A statement so obvious it is comic — a truism.
- Prendre des vessies pour des lanternes — To be grossly deceived about something.
- Être piqué de la tarentule — To be seized by frantic, uncontrollable agitation.
- Tonnerre de Brest ! — An exclamation of astonishment or annoyance.
- En voiture, Simone ! — Right then, off we go.
- Une tempête dans un verre d'eau — A great commotion over something trivial.
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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