IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchMettre le grappin sur quelque chose
Meaning: To get one's hooks into something and not let go.
Literally: To put the grappling hook on something
Example: “Un promoteur a mis le grappin sur tous les terrains au bord du lac.” — A developer has got his hooks into all the land by the lake.
English equivalent: To get one's hooks into something
Equivalents in other languages
English: get one's hooks into
Origin: The grappin is the boarding hook thrown to bind an enemy ship alongside so its crew cannot disengage. The phrase keeps that quality of a hold that cannot be shaken off.
More French idioms
- Honi soit qui mal y pense Let anyone who reads something improper into this be the one disgraced.
- À huis clos In closed session, with the public excluded.
- Mettre à l'index To blacklist something or exclude it from acceptable use.
- Un violon d'Ingres A serious passion pursued outside one's actual profession.
- Un coup de Jarnac An unexpected decisive stroke, delivered within the rules but not quite sportingly.
- Jeux de mains, jeux de vilains Horseplay ends badly.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- L'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt Early risers, and hard workers in general, are the ones who succeed.
- Quand le vin est tiré, il faut le boire Once you have committed to something, you have to go through with it.
- Un malheur ne vient jamais seul Misfortunes tend to come several at once.
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