faire dresser l’oreille
Meaning: To catch someone's attention or spark their interest.
Language: French
Literally: to make the ear stand up
Category: Animals
Origin: The phrase pictures an animal pricking up its ears at a sound—the automatic physical response to something noteworthy.
More idioms — Animals
- renaître de ses cendres — To rise again and flourish after near-total destruction.
- donner un coup de pied dans la fourmilière — To strike a major blow or take bold action that stirs up considerable agitation and contr…
- remettre en selle — To help someone recover a former position or regain their footing after a setback.
- tener más conchas que un galápago — To be extremely cunning or crafty; to have many tricks up one's sleeve.
- cachicamo diciéndole a morrocoy conchudo — Calling out someone's faults when the accuser has the very same fault, especially when th…
- como pez en el agua — perfectly at ease in a situation; in one's natural element.
More French idioms
- se payer la tête de quelqu'un — To mock or ridicule someone.
- avoir les sangs tournés — To be profoundly shocked or horrified.
- fourrer son nez dans les affaires de quelqu'un — To meddle or pry indiscreetly into someone else's affairs.
- griller les neurones — To drive someone insane or cause them to go mad.
- passer d'un excès à l'autre — To swing from one extreme to the opposite extreme without ever finding moderation.
- prendre des gants — To handle a delicate matter with great tact and care to avoid offending someone.
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.