Nettoyer les écuries d'Augias
Meaning: To clear up a vast accumulated mess, usually of corruption.
Language: French
Literally: To clean the Augean stables
Category: Nature
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 idioms — Nature
- Veiller au grain — To stay alert for trouble.
- Tomber des hallebardes — To rain extremely hard.
- L'été indien — A spell of unseasonably warm weather in autumn.
- La partie émergée de l'iceberg — The small visible portion of a much larger problem.
- Faire flèche de tout bois — To use every available means to achieve an end.
- Blanchir sous le harnais — To grow old in a profession.
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.
From our false friends
- Attendre — Actually means 'to wait for'. J'attends le bus = I'm waiting for the bus. For attend an e…
- Actuel — Actually means 'current' or 'present-day'. Actuellement = currently — not 'actually'.
- Blesser — Actually means 'to wound' or 'to injure'. Je suis blessé = I am injured — not blessed.
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