IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchFaire amende honorable
Meaning: To publicly admit you were wrong and apologize.
Literally: To make honorable amends
Example: “Après son tweet maladroit, le ministre a fait amende honorable.” — After his clumsy tweet, the minister ate humble pie.
English equivalent: To eat humble pie
Equivalents in other languages
Swedish: Att göra en pudel Literally: To do a poodle
Hindi: नाक रगड़ना (nāk ragaṛnā) Literally: To rub your nose on the ground
English: eat humble pie
Origin: Once a literal judicial penalty: the condemned was led in a shirt, rope around the neck, to beg pardon aloud before the court or church. The ceremony disappeared at the Revolution but the phrase kept its sense of public retraction.
More French idioms
- C'est du grand art That is masterfully done.
- L'enfance de l'art Utterly elementary; child's play.
- À l'article de la mort At the very point of dying.
- De bon augure A promising sign; its opposite, de mauvais augure, means ominous.
- Mesurer à l'aune de To judge something by a particular standard.
- L'avocat du diable Someone who argues a position they do not hold in order to test it.
Explore another collection: False Friends
Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
Keep exploring