FrenchFaire la fine bouche
Meaning: To be overly picky or hard to please.
Literally: To make the fine mouth
Example: “On nous offre un voyage gratuit, ce n'est pas le moment de faire la fine bouche.” — We're being offered a free trip; this is no time to be picky.
English equivalent: To turn one's nose up
Origin: Attested from the second half of the 15th century, originally as faire la petite bouche — to make the small mouth. The logic sits opposite someone tucking in with real appetite, mouth open wide for anything good on offer; making the mouth small, by contrast, is the fussy diner's gesture, taking as little as possible and making a show of the reluctance. Petite eventually gave way to fine, partly because the mouth had long stood for taste and refinement in French, and the sense broadened from food specifically to being difficult about anything worth having.
Other ways to say this
English: turn up one's nose at something or someone- French: Faire fi de quelque chose Literally: To make fie of something
More French idioms
- Se lever du pied gauche To wake up in a bad mood.
- Avoir le vent en poupe To be doing very well; everything is going your way.
- Mettre les pieds dans le plat To put one's foot in it; to say something awkward or blunt.
- Avoir la tête dans les nuages To be a daydreamer; out of touch with reality.
- Jeter de l'huile sur le feu To make a bad situation worse.
- Faire d'une pierre deux coups To kill two birds with one stone.
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