
IdiomBody & Senses
French
Haut les cœurs !
Meaning: Take courage; lift your spirits.
Literally: Up with the hearts!
Example: “Il reste dix kilomètres jusqu'au refuge : haut les cœurs !” — Ten more kilometers to the hut: chin up, everyone!
English equivalent: Keep your chin up
Equivalents in other languages
English: keep your chin up
Origin: A direct translation of the liturgical Sursum corda, the celebrant's call at the start of the Eucharistic prayer. It moved from the Mass to military and sporting exhortation without changing its shape.
More French idioms
- Aux calendes grecques Never — used of something postponed indefinitely.
- Un cautère sur une jambe de bois A remedy that is completely useless.
- Scier la branche sur laquelle on est assis To destroy the thing your own position depends on.
- Tomber de Charybde en Scylla To escape one danger only to meet a worse one.
- Proposer la botte à quelqu'un To proposition someone sexually.
- Pousser le bouchon un peu loin To go too far; to overstep.
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