FrenchLe dindon de la farce
Meaning: The dupe — the victim of a trick who ends up everyone's laughingstock.
Literally: The turkey of the stuffing
Example: “Tout le monde était au courant de la blague, sauf moi : j'étais le dindon de la farce.” — Everyone was in on the joke except me: I was the one left looking foolish.
English equivalent: The butt of the joke
Equivalents in other languages
English: the butt of the joke
Origin: Farce means both a comic interlude and stuffing, and both have been proposed. The medieval-theater reading struggles on dates, since turkeys only reached Europe from Mexico in the 16th century. The likelier story is culinary and slangy: a turkey gets plumé (plucked, hence fleeced), dinde had meant a foolish girl since at least 1771, and a bird served stuffed supplied the pun.
More French idioms
- Tenir la dragée haute à quelqu'un To keep someone waiting before granting what they ask, so they feel the power you hold ov…
- Sucrer les fraises To have trembling hands; by extension, to be doddering.
- Les Anglais ont débarqué To have one's period.
- S'envoyer en l'air To have sex.
- Sacrifier à Vénus To have sex.
- La langue de bois Rigid, evasive doublespeak — language cut off from reality that carries a deliberately ri…
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Faute d'un point, Martin perdit son âne A tiny mistake can cost you dearly.
- Après la pluie, le beau temps Bad times are followed by good ones.
- Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué Don't count on a gain before you actually have it.
Keep exploring