FrenchFaire fureur
Meaning: To provoke great enthusiasm or widespread popularity.
Literally: To make fury
Example: “Ce petit jeu de mots fait fureur dans la cour de récréation.” — That little word game is all the rage on the playground.
English equivalent: To be all the rage
Other ways to say this
- French: Faire florès Literally: To make florès
English: be all the rage
Origin: Fureur is not only rage: in classical French it also meant a violent, uncontrolled passion for something, as when Montesquieu wrote that the fureur of most Frenchmen was to be witty, or Bossuet spoke of the fureur for dueling. A play, a song or a fashion that fait fureur stirs that kind of craze in the public. The Académie française listed the phrase in 1835, and Littré's example is the classic use: this actress, this play, is all the rage.
More French idioms
- Pousser les feux To intensify effort or energy; to redouble one's exertions to achieve a goal.
- Courir après les cotillons To pursue amorous or romantic adventures.
- Tirer les oreilles To scold someone harshly or punish them.
- Avoir de la tchatche To be talkative and persuasive, to have the gift of gab.
- Tomber à l’eau To be canceled or abandoned.
- Ne plus savoir où donner de la tête To be overwhelmed with work or demands.
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