IdiomAnimals
French
FrenchLa mouche du coche
Meaning: Someone who bustles importantly while contributing nothing.
Literally: The coach fly
Example: “Il court partout en donnant des ordres pendant que les autres déménagent : la mouche du coche.” — He rushes around giving orders while the others do the moving, busy doing nothing useful.
Origin: From La Fontaine's fable, in which a fly buzzes around a struggling coach, stings the horses, and claims the credit when the vehicle reaches the top of the hill. The fable is explicit that the horses did the work.
More French idioms
- Ne pas valoir un pet de lapin To be entirely worthless.
- C'est la mer à boire It is an impossible or endless task — most often used in the negative.
- Faire son miel de quelque chose To turn something to one's own advantage.
- La substantifique moelle The essential substance of something, reached only by real effort.
- Refiler la patate chaude To hand an awkward problem to someone else.
- Dans le pétrin In serious trouble.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
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- Pierre qui roule n'amasse pas mousse Constant movement prevents anything from accumulating.
- On ne fait pas d'omelette sans casser des œufs Worthwhile results require some damage along the way.
- Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop You cannot permanently suppress your real character.
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