Les doigts dans le nez
Meaning: To do something with the greatest of ease.
Language: French
Literally: To do it with fingers in the nose
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: From horse racing, where a jockey winning effortlessly could ride with a hand idle — even a finger up his nose.
Equivalents in other languages
- Spanish: Ser pan comido — literally: To be eaten bread
- Korean: 식은 죽 먹기 (Sigeun juk meokgi) — literally: Eating cold porridge
- Polish: Bułka z masłem — literally: A roll with butter
- Japanese: 朝飯前 (Asameshi mae) — literally: Before breakfast
More idioms — Body & Senses
- By the skin of your teeth — By the narrowest possible margin.
- Ser uña y carne — To be inseparable; the closest of friends.
- Fare le corna — To ward off bad luck — or to signal that a partner is being unfaithful.
- Stare con le mani in mano — To stand around doing nothing while others work.
- 腹が黒い (hara ga kuroi) — Scheming and malicious behind a friendly face.
- Зарубить на носу (Zarubit' na nosu) — To remember something firmly, once and for all.
More French idioms
- Tomber dans le panneau — To fall for a trick or scam.
- Avoir un cœur d'artichaut — To fall in love easily and often.
- Faire la grasse matinée — To sleep in and have a lazy lie-in.
- Avoir le bras long — To have influence and useful connections.
- Découvrir le pot aux roses — To uncover a hidden secret.
- Être dans de beaux draps — To be in a real mess.
From our tongue twisters
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. — A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.
- 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…
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