Faire un tabac

Literally: To make a tobacco

Example: “Sa première pièce a fait un tabac à Avignon.” — His first play was a smash hit in Avignon.

English equivalent: To be a smash hit

Origin: Attested from 1870, and there is no tobacco in it anywhere. The root is Occitan tabassa or tabasta — to strike hard, to hit, and also to make a racket — which is the same root behind tabasser, to beat someone up. The tabas it produced was crossed with its homophone tabac and never escaped. Once that is clear the sense falls out, and what it falls out of is noise: thunder rolls, and so does a room full of people applauding, applause being a long rapid series of blows delivered by hand. The theater backs it up. A claque was a body of claqueurs, people paid to applaud, and a clap is a slap; enthusiasts stamped as well, to raise the volume. Early 20th-century actors who went down well were said to avoir le gros tabac. There is also en faire tout un tabac, to make a great fuss about something, but that is another story.