être à ramasser à la petite cuiller
Meaning: To be completely exhausted, utterly without strength.
Language: French
Literally: to be fit to be picked up with a small spoon
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Origin uncertain; the image suggests a person so weak or depleted they must be handled as carefully as liquid or paste, requiring only a small utensil.
More idioms — Daily Life
- être du propre — Used ironically to criticize something as morally or physically filthy.
- mettre à terre — To defeat or knock someone down.
- prendre des gants — To handle a delicate matter with great tact and care to avoid offending someone.
- remettre en train — To restart or reactivate something that has stopped or slowed down.
- vendre chèrement sa peau — To defend oneself fiercely and make a determined stand against those trying to kill you.
- en la cuerda floja — To be in a precarious or dangerous position; to be walking a fine line between safety and…
More French idioms
- casser le nez à coups d’encensoir — To offer someone clumsy, exaggerated, and insincere flattery to their face.
- se casser la figure — To fall to the ground; to have an accident or suffer a collapse.
- péter une baloune — To cause deep disappointment; to shatter someone's illusions or hopes.
- remuer ciel et terre — To exert all possible effort and use every available means to achieve a goal.
- joindre le geste à la parole — To back up what you say with action; to keep your promises.
- faire dresser l’oreille — To catch someone's attention or spark their interest.
From our proverbs
- One may as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb. — Risk harsh punishment equally for major wrongs or minor ones, so choose the bolder course.
- There are many ways of killing a dog beside hanging him. — Multiple methods exist to achieve the same harmful outcome, so don't fixate on one partic…
- Where we least think, there goeth the hare away. — Prey escape through negligence; danger strikes when vigilance wavers at supposed safe mom…