mettre l'eau à la bouche
Meaning: Making someone crave or desire something through temptation.
Language: French
Literally: to put water in the mouth
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: Purely physiological to start with: anticipating good food triggers real salivation, and French had l'eau en vient à la bouche for exactly that from the 15th century, with Rabelais using the same image for appetite in the 16th. What changed over time was the direction of the metaphor. Originally the phrase reported a fact about your own body — the water was already arriving, an observation about yourself — and only in the 17th century did it flip into something one thing or person does to another: a smell, a sight, or a tempting offer now causes the reaction in someone else, rather than simply describing your own.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- tremper son biscuit — Engaging in a brief romantic or intimate encounter.
- faire la soupe à la grimace — Complaining or grumbling about something constantly.
- avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre — Taking more food than one can actually eat; wanting too much.
- manger du bout des lèvres — Eating without appetite or showing disinterest in the meal.
- in den sauren Apfel beißen — To accept an unpleasant necessity or disagreeable situation with resignation and stoicism.
- comerse un rosco — To fail completely or strike out; to get nothing at all in a romantic or competitive cont…
More French idioms
- avoir une grosse tête — Being arrogant, conceited, or thinking highly of oneself.
- faire un bide — Experiencing complete failure or lack of success.
- avoir la chair de poule — Experiencing fear, cold, or emotional reaction causing skin reaction.
- crier sur les toits — Announcing something publicly that should remain secret.
- mettre son doigt sur la plaie — Identifying the exact problem or sensitive issue in a situation.
- avoir un poisson d'avril — Being fooled by a prank or hoax on April 1st.