Le complexe d'Œdipe
Meaning: A child's unconscious attachment to the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the other.
Language: French
Literally: The Oedipus complex
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Named by Freud after Sophocles' king, who unknowingly kills his father and marries his mother. Freud took the play as evidence that the pattern was universal rather than particular to Oedipus.
More idioms — Daily Life
- De conserve — Together, in company — not to be confused with de concert.
- On lui donnerait le Bon Dieu sans confession — He looks completely innocent — with the implication that he is not.
- À cor et à cri — Loudly and insistently; demanding something at the top of one's voice.
- La corde au cou — Entirely at someone's mercy; forced to submit on any terms.
- Tenir la corde — To be in the best position to win.
- Tenir les cordons du poêle — To be a pallbearer at a funeral, as a mark of honor.
More French idioms
- La corne d'abondance — A source of inexhaustible abundance.
- 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.
From our false friends
- Phrase — Actually means 'sentence'. For a short phrase or expression, say une expression.
- Ignorer — Actually means 'to be unaware of' or 'not to know'. J'ignore la réponse = I don't know th…
- Déception — Actually means 'disappointment'. For deception (a trick), say tromperie.
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