FrenchÊtre aux petits soins
Meaning: To wait on someone hand and foot; to lavish care and attention on them.
Literally: To be at small cares
Example: “Depuis son opération, ses enfants sont aux petits soins pour elle.” — Since her operation, her children have been waiting on her hand and foot.
English equivalent: To wait on someone hand and foot
Origin: Petits soins meant something more particular in the 17th century than gentle nursing care: it was the vocabulary of courtship, the small deliberate attentions a suitor paid the person he was pursuing. Molière has the phrase with that exact sense in L'École des femmes in 1662. The wording once needed a preposition — aux petits soins avec or auprès de quelqu'un — both now obsolete, leaving only être aux petits soins pour quelqu'un, which kept the tone of devoted, almost romantic attentiveness long after the courtship itself dropped out of the picture.
Equivalents in other languages
English: wait on someone hand and foot
More French idioms
- Montrer les dents Displaying aggression, defiance, or readiness to fight.
- Avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre Taking more food than one can actually eat; wanting too much.
- Être un ours Being unfriendly, grumpy, and difficult to approach socially.
- Avoir une mémoire d'éléphant Having exceptional ability to remember details over time.
- Avoir une langue de vipère Speaking maliciously, spreading rumors, or being verbally cruel.
- Faire ses griffes Practicing or preparing oneself for a challenging task or confrontation.
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- Bête comme ses pieds Really not very bright.
- Avoir un poil dans la main To be incurably lazy.
- Tête de linotte A scatterbrain who can't hold a thought.
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