IdiomFood & Drink
French
FrenchNé avec une cuillère d'argent dans la bouche
Meaning: Born into wealth and advantage.
Literally: Born with a silver spoon in the mouth
Example: “Né avec une cuillère d'argent dans la bouche, il n'a jamais cherché de travail.” — Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he has never looked for a job.
English equivalent: Born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
Equivalents in other languages
Portuguese: nascer em berço de ouro Literally: To be born in a cradle of gold
English: born with a silver spoon in one's mouth
Origin: A borrowing of the English phrase, which refers to the christening spoons wealthy godparents gave — a child of means arrived with the silver already in place. French took it whole in the 20th century.
More French idioms
- Avoir les coudées franches To have complete freedom of action.
- Battre sa coulpe To publicly acknowledge one's own wrongdoing.
- Le petit doigt sur la couture du pantalon Standing rigidly to attention; obeying without question.
- Ôter une épine du pied à quelqu'un To relieve someone of a persistent difficulty.
- Un écorché vif Someone painfully hypersensitive to everything around them.
- Se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter To have an absurdly high opinion of one's own importance.
Explore another collection: Tongue Twisters
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- 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.
- Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
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