faire ses choux gras
Meaning: Profiting greatly from a situation at someone else's expense.
Language: French
Literally: to make one's cabbages fat
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: On record from Guillaume Coquillard's Le Plaidoyer, written between 1478 and 1480 — cabbage being the staple vegetable of anyone too poor for meat, and gras (fattened) describing what happened when a cook enriched a plain cabbage dish with animal fat, usually lard, to make it worth eating. The Dictionnaire historique de la langue française records an older sense close to se goberger — eating well, taking one's ease — before the 17th century narrowed it to the modern meaning: profiting from something, one's own fortunes fattened the way the cabbage was.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- 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.
- faire la soupe à la grimace — Complaining or grumbling about something constantly.
- avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre — Taking more food than one can actually eat; wanting too much.
- manger du bout des lèvres — Eating without appetite or showing disinterest in the meal.
More French idioms
- avoir un tuyau — Having inside information or a useful tip about something.
- être à court de — Lacking or running low on something essential.
- avoir un bleu — Having a bruise on the skin from impact or injury.
- prendre ses rêves pour des réalités — Confusing fantasy with reality; living in delusion.
- faire la pluie et le beau temps — Having complete control over a situation or someone's fate.
- avoir une dent contre quelqu'un — Holding a grudge or resentment toward someone.
From our proverbs
- All good things must come to an end — Nothing pleasant lasts forever.
- Speak of the devil — Said when someone appears just as they're being discussed.
- You can't please everyone — It's impossible to satisfy every person all the time.