Jeter le bébé avec l'eau du bain
Meaning: To discard something valuable while getting rid of what's unwanted.
Language: French
Literally: To throw the baby out with the bathwater
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Traced to a 16th-century German proverb ('das Kind mit dem Bade ausschütten') warning against carelessly tossing out something precious along with the trash — French and English both borrowed the same image.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do.
- Avoir le cul entre deux chaises — To be indecisive, caught between two options.
- Les carottes sont cuites — It's too late, nothing can be done.
- Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof — I don't understand anything at all.
- Schwein haben — Getting unexpectedly lucky — rooted in medieval tournaments where the last-place finisher…
More French idioms
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- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
- Avoir le cafard — To feel depressed or down.
- Poser un lapin — To stand someone up on a date.
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
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