Parler à la cantonade
Meaning: To speak to a group at large without addressing anyone in particular.
Language: French
Literally: To speak to the cantonade
Category: Daily Life
Origin: In the 16th century cantonade meant the corner or angle of a building; in the theater it came to mean the wings at the side of the stage. An actor speaking à la cantonade directed his lines offstage, to a character the audience could not see — so to nobody present.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Un capitaine d'industrie — The head of a large company.
- Il n'y a pas loin du Capitole à la roche Tarpéienne — Glory and disgrace are close neighbors — the fall can follow the honors very quickly.
- Arriver comme les carabiniers — To turn up far too late, when everything is already over.
- Le dernier carat — The very last moment; the absolute limit.
- Pédaler dans la semoule — To be confused and getting nowhere.
- Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter — To have more important things to do.
More French idioms
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
- C'est comme pisser dans un violon — A completely pointless effort.
- Avoir le cafard — To feel depressed or down.
- Poser un lapin — To stand someone up on a date.
- 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.
From our untranslatable words
- Épanouissement — The full flourishing of a person — blooming into your most complete, radiant self. More t…
- Ressourcement — The act of returning to one's roots or origins to find renewal — going back to a place, t…
- Dépaysement — The disorienting yet often pleasant feeling of being far from home, immersed in the unfam…
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