FrenchFuir comme la peste
Meaning: To avoid something or someone as much as possible.
Literally: To flee like the plague
Example: “Depuis qu'il vend des assurances, ses anciens camarades le fuient comme la peste.” — Ever since he started selling insurance, his old classmates avoid him like the plague.
English equivalent: To avoid someone like the plague
Equivalents in other languages
Portuguese: fugir como o diabo foge da cruz Literally: To flee like the devil flees from the cross
English: avoid like the plague
Origin: For centuries the plague (la peste) was the disease people fled above all others, and French built several comparisons on it. The Académie française's first dictionary (1694) has haïr comme la peste (to hate like the plague), and its 1835 edition gives on le fuit comme la peste (people flee him like the plague); a comedy by Marc-Antoine Legrand in the early 18th century already has a gossip complain that everyone flees her like the plague. English says "avoid like the plague."
More French idioms
- Beurrer épais (Quebec French) To exaggerate or overdo something.
- Mettre ses deux mains au feu To stake one's reputation or safety by guaranteeing something is true.
- Tendre les bras To offer help and support to someone, or to welcome them warmly.
- Retourner à la case départ To find oneself back where one began, as if no progress had been made.
- Sentir la naphtaline To be old-fashioned or antiquated.
- Passer maître To become the foremost expert in something.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Mieux vaut être tête de chien que queue de lion It is better to lead something small than to follow in something great.
- Goutte à goutte, l'eau creuse la pierre Small, constant efforts achieve great results.
- À beau jeu, beau retour You get back what you give; good treatment earns good treatment.
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