La cerise sur le gâteau
Meaning: A final touch that completes something already good — often said sarcastically of a last straw.
Language: French
Literally: The cherry on the cake
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: A borrowing of the American cherry on top, entering French in the later 20th century. French uses the ironic sense considerably more freely than English does.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- Ni chair ni poisson — Neither one thing nor the other; impossible to classify.
- Un cordon-bleu — An outstanding cook.
- Il y a loin de la coupe aux lèvres — Much can still go wrong between intention and result.
- Né avec une cuillère d'argent dans la bouche — Born into wealth and advantage.
- Des économies de bouts de chandelle — Petty economies that save nothing worth having.
- Un étouffe-chrétien — Food so dense and stodgy it is hard to swallow.
More French idioms
- Clouer le bec à quelqu'un — To silence someone completely, usually with an unanswerable reply.
- Se crêper le chignon — To have a furious quarrel — said of women.
- Avoir les yeux de Chimène pour quelqu'un — To be visibly smitten with someone or something.
- Se faire des cheveux blancs — To worry oneself sick.
- Haut les cœurs ! — Take courage; lift your spirits.
- Aux calendes grecques — Never — used of something postponed indefinitely.
From our compliments & insults
- C'est une vraie chèvre — They're hopelessly stubborn and infuriating — a goat that refuses to be moved.
- Casse-pieds — A massive bore or pain in the neck — someone who wears you down with their irritating way…
- Espèce de patate — You dim bulb — a potato being the very picture of inert, unthinking stodginess.
Browse all compliments & insults →
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