IdiomNature
French
FrenchL'arbre qui cache la forêt
Meaning: A conspicuous detail that distracts attention from the larger reality behind it.
Literally: The tree that hides the forest
Example: “Ce succès isolé, c'est l'arbre qui cache la forêt : les ventes baissent partout ailleurs.” — That one success is hiding the bigger picture: sales are dropping everywhere else.
Origin: A perspective effect made proverbial: stand close enough to one trunk and it blots out everything beyond. Usually deployed in argument to accuse someone of fixating on a single case to avoid the pattern.
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.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Didon dîna, dit-on, du dos d'un dodu dindon dont le dodu dos dodine. A 'd' / 'din' / 'dod' avalanche that seems designed to jam the tongue in third gear.
- Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
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