manger du bout des lèvres
Meaning: Eating without appetite or showing disinterest in the meal.
Language: French
Literally: to eat with the tips of lips
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: Attested from 1611, in Randle Cotgrave's French–English dictionary. Du bout des lèvres treats the lips as the surface of the body, as far from full commitment as you can get while still technically taking part — the opposite of doing something du fond du cœur, from the bottom of the heart, which implies real depth and sincerity. Eating that way is eating without appetite, taking as little as good manners allow rather than genuinely wanting the food; the same phrase attaches just as naturally to speech, a smile, or an apology offered with no feeling behind it.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- in den sauren Apfel beißen — To accept an unpleasant necessity or disagreeable situation with resignation and stoicism.
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- mangiare la foglia — Understand someone's hidden intentions or see through their deception immediately.
- piangere sul latte versato — Waste time regretting something that cannot be changed or undone.
- заморить червячка (zamorit' chervyachka) — To have a light snack or small meal to satisfy hunger temporarily.
- estar com água na boca — Feel eager anticipation or desire, especially for food or something pleasant.
More French idioms
- avoir une peur bleue — Being terrified or extremely frightened of something.
- être du voyage — Being involved in an illicit or questionable scheme.
- faire le gendarme — Acting authoritarian or enforcing rules with excessive zeal.
- avoir des étoiles dans les yeux — Being dreamy, hopeful, or enchanted by romantic ideals.
- faire un couac — Making an embarrassing mistake or producing a discordant sound.
- Quand les poules auront des dents — Never — it describes something that will simply never happen.