La huitième merveille du monde
Meaning: Something extraordinary — usually said with irony.
Language: French
Literally: The eighth wonder of the world
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The canonical list of seven wonders was fixed in Hellenistic times, so an eighth is by definition an intruder. Almost every modern use is sarcastic.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Paris vaut bien une messe — A principle is worth abandoning if the prize is large enough.
- Une messe basse — A whispered aside between two people in company.
- Je vous le donne en mille — You will never guess.
- Une cour des miracles — A squalid, lawless place.
- Affirmer mordicus — To insist on something absolutely and refuse to be moved.
- Être dans les bras de Morphée — To be fast asleep.
More French idioms
- Prendre au mot — To hold someone to exactly what they said.
- Un moulin à paroles — Someone who talks incessantly.
- Sainte Nitouche — A woman who feigns innocence she does not have.
- Le nerf de la guerre — Money, as the thing without which nothing can be done.
- Convoler en justes noces — To get married.
- Trancher le nœud gordien — To solve an intractable problem by refusing its terms.
From our false friends
- Actuel — Actually means 'current' or 'present-day'. Actuellement = currently — not 'actually'.
- Blesser — Actually means 'to wound' or 'to injure'. Je suis blessé = I am injured — not blessed.
- Location — Actually means 'rental'. Une location de voiture = a car rental. For location (place), sa…
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