FrenchLe roi n'est pas son cousin
Meaning: He is beside himself with happiness — and sometimes rather too pleased with himself.
Literally: The king is not his cousin
Example: “Depuis qu'il a gagné le concours de pétanque, le roi n'est pas son cousin.” — Since he won the boules tournament, he's been looking like the cat that got the cream.
English equivalent: Like the cat that got the cream
Equivalents in other languages
English: like the cat that got the cream
Origin: Being heureux comme un roi is the top of the scale, so the phrase can be read two ways: either the speaker is so happy that a king would not be a grand enough relative, or that being merely the king's cousin is not close enough and only a brother or sister would do. It marks getting something long wanted, and often carries a note of pride shading into conceit — the father at a first birth, the winner of a competition. The cousin has nothing to do with the real cousinage of European royal houses, who addressed one another as mon cousin: at the end of the 16th century the phrase ran le roi n'est pas son ami. Furetière has the modern form in 1690.
More French idioms
- Se magner la rondelle To get a move on. Vulgar.
- Avoir les deux pieds dans le même sabot To be incapable of acting; to sit there doing nothing.
- Envoyer la sauce To ejaculate; to fire a burst from a weapon; or to open the throttle. Vulgar in the first…
- Faire un tabac To be a huge success.
- Passer à tabac To be given a severe beating, especially in police custody.
- Un coup de tabac A sudden violent squall at sea; by extension, a brutal turn of events.
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- Tu as la tête sur les épaules You're grounded, sensible, and dependable — not easily swept off course.
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