IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchDorer la pilule
Meaning: To make an unpleasant fact easier to accept by dressing it up.
Literally: To gild the pill
Example: “Le directeur a doré la pilule en annonçant le gel des salaires.” — The director sugarcoated the pill when announcing the pay freeze.
English equivalent: To sugarcoat the pill
Equivalents in other languages
English: sugarcoat the pill
Spanish: dorar la píldora Literally: To gild the pill
Origin: Apothecaries coated bitter pills in sugar or gold leaf so patients would swallow them. The medicine was unchanged, which is precisely the accusation the phrase carries.
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