Ne pas être dans son assiette
Meaning: To feel out of sorts, physically or mentally off-form.
Language: French
Literally: Not to be in one's plate
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The assiette here is not the dinner plate but the older sense of seat or posture — the same word used for a rider's seat on a horse. To be out of one's assiette is to be off balance, and the culinary reading is a later misunderstanding.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- Se défendre bec et ongles — To fight back with everything you have.
- Connaître bibliquement — To have had sex with someone.
- Se faire de la bile — To worry oneself sick.
- Dans le plus simple appareil — Stark naked.
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
More French idioms
- L'arbre qui cache la forêt — A conspicuous detail that distracts attention from the larger reality behind it.
- Jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins — To throw propriety to the wind and stop caring what people think.
- Un baroud d'honneur — A last stand fought for honor when defeat is already certain.
- Un ange passe — Said to acknowledge a sudden awkward silence in a conversation.
- Être aux anges — To be overjoyed, in raptures.
- Être aux abonnés absents — To be unreachable, or to fail to show up when needed.
From our tongue twisters
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? — A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — An 's' / 'si' minefield.
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. — A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.
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