Le roi n'est pas son cousin
Meaning: He is beside himself with happiness — and sometimes rather too pleased with himself.
Language: French
Literally: The king is not his cousin
Category: Daily Life
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 idioms — Daily Life
- Travailler pour le roi de Prusse — To work for nothing.
- Rôtir le balai — To live in poverty — and later, to live a life of debauchery.
- Dormir comme un sabot — To sleep very deeply.
- Tout schuss — Flat out; or straight down, without deviating.
- Chanter comme une seringue / Chanter comme une casserole — To sing badly out of tune.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
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.
- Balancer la sauce / Envoyer la sauce — To ejaculate; to fire a burst from a weapon; or to open the throttle. Vulgar in the first…
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
- Avoir le cafard — To feel depressed or down.
From our compliments & insults
- Courir sur le haricot — To get badly on someone's nerves.
- Tu as du chien — You have a certain irresistible magnetism — a je-ne-sais-quoi that draws people in.
- Tu as la tête sur les épaules — You're grounded, sensible, and dependable — not easily swept off course.
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