La corne d'abondance
Meaning: A source of inexhaustible abundance.
Language: French
Literally: The horn of plenty
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From the horn of the goat Amalthea, who suckled the infant Zeus; broken off, it was granted the power to pour out whatever its holder wished. The cornucopia became a standard emblem of prosperity in Roman and Renaissance art.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Un choix cornélien — A dilemma in which every option requires sacrificing something one is bound to.
- À son corps défendant — Reluctantly; against one's own will.
- Corvéable à merci — Available to be worked without limit and without recourse.
- Avoir la cote — To be well regarded; to be popular.
- Sans coup férir — Without any resistance at all; effortlessly.
- Un coup de fil — A telephone call.
More French idioms
- Tomber comme un couperet — To land suddenly and irrevocably, as of bad news.
- Faire la cour à quelqu'un — To court someone romantically.
- La cour des grands — The top tier, where the serious players are.
- Une fois n'est pas coutume — One exception does not establish a habit.
- Pendre la crémaillère — To hold a housewarming.
- Riche comme Crésus — Enormously wealthy.
From our tongue twisters
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? — A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — An 's' / 'si' minefield.
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. — A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.
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