Faire la fine bouche
Meaning: To be overly picky or hard to please.
Language: French
Literally: To make the fine mouth
Category: Food & Drink
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.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- Tourner autour du pot — To beat around the bush.
- Casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu'un — To talk behind someone's back.
- faire ses choux gras — Profiting greatly from a situation at someone else's expense.
- manger ses paroles — Having to take back or admit one was wrong about something said.
- mettre l'eau à la bouche — Making someone crave or desire something through temptation.
- tremper son biscuit — Engaging in a brief romantic or intimate encounter.
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.
From our compliments & insults
- Tête de linotte — A scatterbrain who can't hold a thought.
- Courir sur le haricot — To get badly on someone's nerves.
- Tu as du chien — You have a certain irresistible magnetism — a je-ne-sais-quoi that draws people in.