Il n'y a pas le feu au lac
Meaning: There's no rush.
Language: French
Literally: The lake isn't on fire
Category: The Absurd
Origin: A French joke at Swiss expense, the lake being Lake Geneva — a body of water conspicuously incapable of catching light, and the Swiss conspicuously unhurried. Used to tell someone to calm down.
More idioms — The Absurd
- Par l'opération du Saint-Esprit — By some unexplained miracle — said sarcastically of something nobody will account for.
- À la Saint-Glinglin — Never — on a day that will never come.
- Une guerre picrocholine — A furious conflict over something trivial.
- Est-ce que je te demande si ta grand-mère fait du vélo ? — Mind your own business — a retort to an intrusive question.
- Décrocher la lune — To achieve the impossible — or, promised, to offer what cannot be delivered.
- Tomber comme à Gravelotte — To come down thick and fast, of rain or of blows.
More French idioms
- Au creux de la vague — At a low point, with the expectation that things will rise again.
- Nager entre deux eaux — To avoid committing to either side.
- Une coupe sombre — A drastic reduction, especially of staff or budget.
- Nettoyer les écuries d'Augias — To clear up a vast accumulated mess, usually of corruption.
- Aux quatre coins de — All over; in every part of a place.
- Frappé au coin du bon sens — Manifestly sensible; bearing the stamp of sound judgment.
From our false friends
- Pain — Actually means 'bread'. The hurting kind of pain is la douleur.
- Coin — Actually means 'corner'. A coin you spend is une pièce.
- Chance — Actually means 'luck'. Bonne chance! = Good luck! For chance (probability), say une possi…
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