L'échapper belle
Meaning: To have a narrow escape.
Language: French
Literally: To escape it beautifully
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The pronoun refers to nothing in particular, a construction French keeps in a handful of set phrases. Belle here means cleanly or narrowly rather than attractively.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Faire l'école buissonnière — To play truant.
- Ne pas tarir d'éloges — To praise someone endlessly.
- Qui trop embrasse mal étreint — Attempting too many things at once means doing none of them properly.
- Une éminence grise — The unofficial power behind a public figure.
- À l'emporte-pièce — Trenchant and uncompromising, of a remark or judgment.
- Un enfant de la balle — Someone raised in the trade they now practice.
More French idioms
- L'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions — Meaning well counts for nothing without acting well.
- Envers et contre tous — In defiance of universal opposition.
- À l'envi — Vying with one another; each trying to outdo the rest.
- Jeter l'éponge — To give up and concede.
- Passer l'éponge — To forgive and say no more about it.
- L'esprit de l'escalier — The perfect retort that arrives only after you have left.
From our compliments & insults
- 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.
- Tu as le vent en poupe — Everything is going your way — you're riding a wave of momentum and success.
Browse all compliments & insults →
Loading the full interactive collection…