mettre son 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
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Often traced, too quickly, to doubting Thomas putting his finger into Christ's wounds — but that scene is about verifying a wound already known and shown, not about locating a hidden one, which is the entire point of the French idiom. The better fit is a doctor's exam: pressing along an area of complaint until a finger lands on the exact spot that makes the patient wince, which is precisely how the phrase is used — naming, unerringly, the one detail in a situation that actually hurts. Plaie comes from Latin plaga, a blow or a wound, and doigt from digitus by way of Old French ditus.
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
- avoir un poisson d'avril — Being fooled by a prank or hoax on April 1st.
- être une girouette — Being inconsistent, constantly changing opinions or allegiances.
- faire la soupe à la grimace — Complaining or grumbling about something constantly.
- être aux petits soins — Receiving attentive, careful treatment and consideration from someone.
- 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.