IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchHoni soit qui mal y pense
Meaning: Let anyone who reads something improper into this be the one disgraced.
Literally: Shamed be he who thinks evil of it
Example: “Le ministre et la journaliste ont dîné ensemble, honi soit qui mal y pense.” — The minister and the journalist had dinner together, and shame on anyone who reads anything into it.
Origin: The motto of the Order of the Garter, founded around 1348, said to date from Edward III retrieving a lady's fallen garter and rebuking the sniggering court. The single n in honi is Old French and is corrected wrongly all the time.
More French idioms
- Un jugement de Salomon A ruling of great wisdom that exposes the truth by testing it.
- C'est kif-kif It makes no difference at all.
- Une fine lame A highly skilled practitioner.
- Sur l'air des lampions Chanted rhythmically on three insistent notes, as a crowd does.
- Perdre son latin To be completely baffled by something.
- Se reposer sur ses lauriers To coast on past achievements instead of continuing to work.
Explore another collection: Untranslatable Words
Words that capture a feeling or idea English needs a whole sentence for.
- Épanouissement The full flourishing of a person — blooming into your most complete, radiant self. More t…
- Ressourcement The act of returning to one's roots or origins to find renewal — going back to a place, t…
- Dépaysement The disorienting yet often pleasant feeling of being far from home, immersed in the unfam…
Keep exploring