mettre le doigt sur la plaie
Meaning: Identifying the exact problem or sensitive issue in a situation.
Language: French
Literally: to put one's finger on the wound
Example: “Quand la stagiaire a demandé pourquoi personne ne lisait les rapports, elle a mis le doigt sur la plaie.” — When the intern asked why nobody ever read the reports, she put her finger right on the problem.
English equivalent: To put one's finger on it
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Usually traced to the Gospel scene in which the apostle Thomas, doubting the resurrection, puts his finger on the wounds of the risen Christ. In the idiom the finger no longer verifies a wound but points to one: it means naming precisely what is causing a problem. Plaie comes from Latin plaga, a blow or a wound.
Equivalents in other languages
- English: put one's finger on it
More idioms — Body & Senses
- faire ses dents — A baby is teething and developing their first teeth.
- avoir le compas dans l'oeil — Having excellent judgment of distance, measurement, or proportion.
- avoir les pieds qui démangent — Wanting to travel or move to a different place.
- avoir une peur bleue — Being terrified or extremely frightened of something.
- avoir des étoiles dans les yeux — Being dreamy, hopeful, or enchanted by romantic ideals.
- avere un diavolo per capello — Be extremely angry or agitated, ready to argue with anyone about anything.
More French idioms
- faire un poisson d'avril — To play an April Fools' prank on someone.
- être une girouette — Being inconsistent, constantly changing opinions or allegiances.
- faire la soupe à la grimace — To sulk; to give someone a sour, unwelcoming face, especially at home.
- être aux petits soins — To wait on someone hand and foot; to lavish care and attention on them.
- montrer les dents — Displaying aggression, defiance, or readiness to fight.
- avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre — Taking more food than one can actually eat; wanting too much.
From our tongue twisters
- 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.