faire baiser les verges
Meaning: To force someone you have mistreated to beg your pardon.
Language: French
Literally: to make kiss the rods
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The rods evoke the instrument of punishment; forcing someone to kiss them symbolizes submission and an apology extracted through domination.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- retourner l’estomac — To disgust or sicken someone, to make them feel nauseous.
- ne pas garder les yeux dans sa poche — To be observant and alert; to miss nothing.
- donner du poing sur la table — To express strong disagreement or disapproval with a situation.
- avoir sur les bras — To be burdened with or responsible for someone or something; to be occupied with a demand…
- ne s’être pas regardé — to judge others harshly while being blind to one's own equal or greater faults.
- ne pas en croire ses oreilles — To be startled or disbelieving upon hearing something astonishing.
More French idioms
- remonter plus haut — To begin a story or explanation at an earlier point in time to clarify or better illumina…
- être victime de son succès — To suffer problems or difficulties that arise as a result of becoming too successful.
- n’avoir qu’à bien se tenir — A warning or threat implying that one must behave properly or face consequences.
- battre les fourrés — To range far and wide in search of adventure or chance encounters.
- recoller les morceaux — to repair a broken relationship or reconcile after a quarrel.
- brûler ses dernières cartouches — to exhaust one's final resources or use one's last arguments in desperation.
From our tongue twisters
- Seize chaises sèches sur seize arches sèches. — A relentless collision of 'sei', 'sèch', and 's' — the tongue can't find traction.
- Un beau ver vert dans un verre vert verra un ver vert. — Ver (worm), vert (green), and verre (glass) are near-homophones — distinguishing them at…
- Didon dîna, dit-on, du dos d'un dodu dindon dont le dodu dos dodine. — A 'd' / 'din' / 'dod' avalanche that seems designed to jam the tongue in third gear.