Jeter l'éponge
Meaning: To give up and concede.
Language: French
Literally: To throw the sponge
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From boxing, where a second signaled his man's surrender by throwing in the sponge used between rounds. English switched to the towel; French kept the sponge.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Passer l'éponge — To forgive and say no more about it.
- L'esprit de l'escalier — The perfect retort that arrives only after you have left.
- Tomber dans l'escarcelle de quelqu'un — To end up in someone's possession, often without their working for it.
- À bon escient — Advisedly; with proper judgment about when to do it.
- Des espèces sonnantes et trébuchantes — Hard cash, as opposed to promises or credit.
- D'estoc et de taille — With everything one has, by every available means.
More French idioms
- Ne connaître ni d'Ève ni d'Adam — Not to know someone at all.
- Fauché comme les blés — Completely broke.
- S'inscrire en faux — To formally deny something and challenge its truth.
- Cherchez la femme — There is a woman behind this somewhere.
- Jeter l'argent par les fenêtres — To spend recklessly and pointlessly.
- Croire dur comme fer — To believe something with complete and unshakeable conviction.
From our compliments & insults
- Quel râleur / quelle râleuse — You never stop moaning — everything is a complaint, nothing is ever good enough.
- Peau de vache — A mean, difficult, and unpleasant person — tough and unyielding like tanned hide.
- Tu as une cervelle de moineau — You're scatterbrained and forgetful.
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