IdiomBody & Senses
French
FrenchLes Anglais ont débarqué
Meaning: To have one's period.
Literally: The English have landed
Example: “Pas de piscine pour moi aujourd'hui, les Anglais ont débarqué.” — No swimming for me today; Aunt Flo is visiting.
English equivalent: Aunt Flo is visiting
Equivalents in other languages
English: Aunt Flo is visiting
Origin: Nothing to do with 1944. After Waterloo in 1815 the British occupied France until 1820, dressed in red uniforms. Parisian popular speech of the 1820s linked that tide of red-coated occupiers to menstrual blood, in pointed memory of the departing army.
More French idioms
- Sentir le fagot To reek of heresy; more broadly, to arouse suspicion or invite condemnation.
- Faire ses ablutions To wash oneself; to do one's daily toilet.
- Bouché à l'émeri Dense, obtuse, narrow-minded; incapable of understanding.
- Griller un feu To drive through a traffic light that is red.
- Éclairer la lanterne de quelqu'un To supply the missing detail that lets someone finally understand.
- Outre mesure Excessively, unreasonably, to an unwarranted degree.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
Tricky phrases to practice out loud, from languages around the world.
- Seize chaises sèches sur seize arches sèches. A relentless collision of 'sei', 'sèch', and 's' — the tongue can't find traction.
- Un beau ver vert dans un verre vert verra un ver vert. Ver (worm), vert (green), and verre (glass) are near-homophones — distinguishing them at…
- Didon dîna, dit-on, du dos d'un dodu dindon dont le dodu dos dodine. A 'd' / 'din' / 'dod' avalanche that seems designed to jam the tongue in third gear.
Keep exploring