IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchLe revers de la médaille
Meaning: The unwelcome other side of something good.
Literally: The reverse of the medal
Example: “Il gagne très bien sa vie, mais le revers de la médaille, c'est qu'il ne voit jamais ses enfants.” — He earns a very good living, but the flip side of the coin is that he never sees his kids.
English equivalent: The flip side of the coin
Equivalents in other languages
English: the flip side of the coin
Origin: A struck medal carries the portrait on one face and something quite different on the other, and both are the same object. The phrase insists the drawback is not separable from the advantage.
More French idioms
- 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.
- 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.
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- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. An 's' / 'si' minefield.
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.
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