IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchFaire ses ablutions
Meaning: To wash oneself; to do one's daily toilet.
Literally: To perform one's ablutions
Example: “Chaque matin, mon oncle fait ses ablutions en chantant à tue-tête.” — Every morning, my uncle washes up singing at the top of his lungs.
Origin: From Latin ablutio, from abluere, 'to wash'. Ritual washing appears across religions — obligatory before Muslim prayer, and performed by Catholic priests before communion. The Latin Mass gave French lavabo, from the psalm Lavabo inter innocentes manus meas recited during the hand-washing, a word that came to name first the washstand and then the basin itself.
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- Être comme l'âne de Buridan To be so paralyzed between two equally attractive options that you choose neither.
- Rire comme une baleine To laugh uproariously, with your mouth wide open.
- Un vent à décorner les bœufs A ferociously strong wind.
- La bave du crapaud n'atteint pas la blanche colombe Insults from a contemptible source cannot touch the person they target.
- Savoir où le bât blesse To know exactly where the real difficulty or sore point lies.
- Faire un bœuf To improvise music together; to hold a jam session.
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