IdiomNature
French
FrenchNettoyer les écuries d'Augias
Meaning: To clear up a vast accumulated mess, usually of corruption.
Literally: To clean the Augean stables
Example: “Le nouveau procureur a promis de nettoyer les écuries d'Augias de la mairie.” — The new prosecutor has promised to clean the Augean stables of city hall.
English equivalent: To clean the Augean stables
Equivalents in other languages
English: Augean stables
Origin: The fifth labor of Heracles: thirty years of filth from three thousand cattle, which he removed in a day by diverting two rivers through the building. The detail that matters is that brute effort was not enough — the job required redirecting something larger.
More French idioms
- Aux quatre coins de All over; in every part of a place.
- Frappé au coin du bon sens Manifestly sensible; bearing the stamp of sound judgment.
- Collet monté Prim, stiff and old-fashioned in manner.
- Dans le collimateur In someone's sights; singled out for scrutiny.
- Le complexe d'Œdipe A child's unconscious attachment to the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the other.
- De conserve Together, in company — not to be confused with de concert.
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