faire la morte
Meaning: Pretending not to notice something or ignoring a situation.
Language: French
Literally: to play dead
Category: Animals
Origin: Animal defense mechanism of feigning death to avoid danger.
Equivalents in other languages
- English: To turn a blind eye — literally: To look with the eye that cannot see
- Greek: Κάνω την πάπια — literally: To play the duck
- Italian: Fare orecchie da mercante — literally: To make merchant's ears
More idioms — Animals
- montrer les dents — Displaying aggression, defiance, or readiness to fight.
- être un ours — Being unfriendly, grumpy, and difficult to approach socially.
- avoir une mémoire d'éléphant — Having exceptional ability to remember details over time.
- avoir une langue de vipère — Speaking maliciously, spreading rumors, or being verbally cruel.
- faire ses griffes — Practicing or preparing oneself for a challenging task or confrontation.
- jemandem einen Bären aufbinden — To tell someone a deliberate lie or deceptive story for amusement or manipulation.
More French idioms
- 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.
- avoir une grosse tête — Being arrogant, conceited, or thinking highly of oneself.
- tremper son biscuit — Engaging in a brief romantic or intimate encounter.
- faire un bide — Experiencing complete failure or lack of success.
- avoir la chair de poule — Experiencing fear, cold, or emotional reaction causing skin reaction.
From our tongue twisters
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? — A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — An 's' / 'si' minefield.
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. — A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.