IdiomNature
French
FrenchLe ventre mou
Meaning: The weakest and most exposed part of something.
Literally: The soft belly
Example: “Le milieu de terrain reste le ventre mou de l'équipe.” — The midfield is still the team's Achilles' heel.
English equivalent: An Achilles' heel
Equivalents in other languages
English: Achilles' heel
Origin: Churchill argued for attacking what he called the soft underbelly of Europe through Italy in 1942. The Italian campaign proved considerably harder than the phrase promised.
More French idioms
- Rendre son tablier To resign, usually in protest.
- Sans tambour ni trompette Discreetly, without any announcement.
- Prendre la tangente To slip away, or to dodge a question.
- Partir à Tataouine To be packed off somewhere remote and unpleasant.
- Mieux vaut tenir que courir Better to keep what you have than chase what you might get.
- Un travail de Titan An undertaking of enormous scale.
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