Mettre pavillon bas
Meaning: To admit defeat.
Language: French
Literally: To lower the flag
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Striking the colors was the recognized naval signal of surrender, and continuing to fight afterwards was a serious offense. The gesture had to be visible, which is what the phrase retains.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Dire pis que pendre de quelqu'un — To speak extremely ill of someone.
- Remettre les pendules à l'heure — To set the record straight and restore order.
- Ce n'est pas le Pérou — It is not a fortune; it is nothing to get excited about.
- Un pétard mouillé — A revelation that was supposed to explode and did not.
- Peu ou prou — More or less; to some degree.
- Y a pas photo — It's not even close; there is no question about it.
More French idioms
- Ne tirez pas sur le pianiste — Do not blame the person who is only doing their best with what they were given.
- Qui va piano va sano — Slow and steady is the surer way.
- Prendre le train onze — To go on foot.
- Vieux comme Mathusalem — Extremely old.
- Comme un poisson dans l'eau — Completely at ease in one's element.
- Tuer la poule aux œufs d'or — To destroy a source of steady profit out of greed for all of it at once.
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
- Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.
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