Jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins
Meaning: To throw propriety to the wind and stop caring what people think.
Language: French
Literally: To throw one's bonnet over the windmills
Category: Nature
Origin: The bonnet was the headwear that marked a woman's respectability, and the mills stood at the edge of the village — so throwing it past them is discarding decorum beyond the bounds of the community. Attested from the 17th century and long applied chiefly to women.
More idioms — Nature
- Un baroud d'honneur — A last stand fought for honor when defeat is already certain.
- Avoir le vent en poupe — To be doing very well; everything is going your way.
- Avoir la tête dans les nuages — To be a daydreamer; out of touch with reality.
- Jeter de l'huile sur le feu — To make a bad situation worse.
- faire la pluie et le beau temps — Having complete control over a situation or someone's fate.
- être une girouette — Being inconsistent, constantly changing opinions or allegiances.
More French idioms
- Un ange passe — Said to acknowledge a sudden awkward silence in a conversation.
- Être aux anges — To be overjoyed, in raptures.
- Être aux abonnés absents — To be unreachable, or to fail to show up when needed.
- Accuser réception — To acknowledge that something has been received.
- Par acquit de conscience — To do something merely to be sure, so as to leave nothing on your conscience.
- La perfide Albion — A hostile nickname for England, cast as habitually treacherous in its diplomacy.
From our proverbs
- Don't get above your raising — Humble origins should temper ambition; remember where you came from and maintain modest v…
- Do what I say, not what I do — Hypocrisy acknowledged: the speaker recognizes their own failures but knows the correct p…
- E pluribus unum — Many diverse elements united create one stronger whole than any part alone.
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