Est-ce que je te demande si ta grand-mère fait du vélo ?
Meaning: Mind your own business — a retort to an intrusive question.
Language: French
Literally: Am I asking you whether your grandmother rides a bike?
Category: The Absurd
Origin: The reply works by answering an impertinent question with one of perfect irrelevance, and the absurdity is the argument. It is recorded from the early 20th century and remains entirely current.
More idioms — The Absurd
- Décrocher la lune — To achieve the impossible — or, promised, to offer what cannot be delivered.
- Tomber comme à Gravelotte — To come down thick and fast, of rain or of blows.
- Merde ! — Good luck — said to a performer before going on stage.
- Voilà pourquoi votre fille est muette — Said of a grand explanation that explains nothing.
- Passez, muscade ! — Hey presto — said when something vanishes suspiciously conveniently.
- Se croire le premier moutardier du pape — To have a wildly inflated sense of one's own importance.
More French idioms
- Veiller au grain — To stay alert for trouble.
- Tomber des hallebardes — To rain extremely hard.
- L'été indien — A spell of unseasonably warm weather in autumn.
- La partie émergée de l'iceberg — The small visible portion of a much larger problem.
- Faire flèche de tout bois — To use every available means to achieve an end.
- Blanchir sous le harnais — To grow old in a profession.
From our proverbs
- Tis the clerk makes the justice. — A skilled administrator or clerk can effectively shape legal outcomes through their knowl…
- Climb not too high, lest the fall be the greater. — Ambition without caution invites proportional disaster; modest goals protect against cata…
- Have not the cloak to make when it begins to rain. — Preparation must precede need; waiting until weather turns cold leaves you exposed and un…
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