Jeter l'argent par les fenêtres
Meaning: To spend recklessly and pointlessly.
Language: French
Literally: To throw money out of the windows
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The window matters: money thrown into the street is not merely spent but scattered where anyone might pick it up, so nothing is received in return. It is about waste rather than extravagance.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Croire dur comme fer — To believe something with complete and unshakeable conviction.
- Le fer de lance — The leading element of an effort; the part that goes in first.
- Avoir le feu sacré — To be driven by genuine, burning vocation.
- Être tout feu tout flamme — To be full of ardent enthusiasm.
- Faire fi de quelque chose — To scorn something; to dismiss it as beneath notice.
- Des grosses ficelles — Crude, obvious tricks that fool nobody.
More French idioms
- Cousu de fil blanc — So obvious that the deception is plainly visible.
- Mettre le doigt dans l'engrenage — To take a first small step that drags you into something far larger.
- Le dos au feu et le ventre à table — In a state of complete physical contentment.
- Marquer à la culotte — To watch someone so closely they cannot move freely.
- Revoir sa copie — To go back and rework a proposal that has been rejected.
- Ronger son frein — To wait in barely contained impatience.
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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