Filer un mauvais coton
Meaning: To be going downhill — in health, or in one's situation generally.
Language: French
Literally: To spin a bad cotton
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Nothing to do with tailing a suspect: the filature here is the mill where raw cotton is spun into thread. In the late 17th century the phrase was jeter un vilain coton (to throw off an ugly cotton), from the way worn fabric sheds little balls of fluff as it goes — the visible sign that a cloth is on its way to falling apart. Across the 19th century vilain gave way to mauvais, and as spinning mills multiplied, jeter gave way to filer (to spin). The meaning had by then already widened from ruining oneself to failing in health, and it now covers anything visibly heading downhill.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Tirer son coup — For a man, to have an orgasm. Vulgar.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do.
- Avoir le cul entre deux chaises — To be indecisive, caught between two options.
- Les carottes sont cuites — It's too late, nothing can be done.
- Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof — I don't understand anything at all.
More French idioms
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
- Avoir le cafard — To feel depressed or down.
- Poser un lapin — To stand someone up on a date.
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
From our proverbs
- Never split timber against the grain. — Fighting natural resistance wastes effort; success requires working with, not against, in…
- While the grass grows the steed starves. — Delay in acting allows opportunities to slip away while waiting for ideal conditions that…
- Grass grows not upon the highway. — Constant traffic wears away growth; neglected paths flourish while heavily used routes re…
Loading the full interactive collection…