Enterrer la hache de guerre
Meaning: To end a feud and set hostilities aside.
Language: French
Literally: To bury the war hatchet
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From the Iroquois practice of literally burying weapons to mark a treaty, reported by colonial writers in the 17th century. Its counterpart, déterrer la hache de guerre, is used exactly as often.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Carpe diem — Make the most of the present rather than counting on the future.
- S'aplatir comme une carpette — To grovel; to let oneself be walked over.
- Rester sur le carreau — To be knocked out of the running; to be left for dead.
- Rouler carrosse — To live in grand style.
- Donner carte blanche — To grant someone complete freedom to act as they see fit.
- Tourner casaque — To switch sides or change allegiance.
More French idioms
- Retourner sa veste — To change one's allegiance opportunistically.
- Coiffer Sainte Catherine — To reach twenty-five while still unmarried — said of a woman.
- Être sujet à caution — To be unreliable; not to be taken at face value.
- Caviarder un texte — To censor a piece of writing by blacking out passages.
- Se serrer la ceinture — To economize and go without.
- La femme de César ne doit pas être soupçonnée — Those in public office must be above even the appearance of wrongdoing.
From our proverbs
- You can't fight City Hall — Entrenched bureaucratic power overwhelms individual resistance; institutional forces outm…
- You can't make a silk purse of a sow's ear — Inferior materials cannot be transformed into superior products through effort alone.
- You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds — Loyalty to opposing sides simultaneously is impossible; you must choose which faction to…
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