Pendre au nez de quelqu'un

Literally: To hang from someone's nose

Example: “Avec tous ces excès de vitesse, un retrait de permis lui pend au nez.” — With all that speeding, he's bound to lose his license sooner or later.

English equivalent: To be in for it

Origin: Pendre once meant "to be fixed from above", to dangle. As early as the 12th or 13th century French said something "hung in front of the nose" (pendre devant le nez), and the lexicographer Alain Rey cites a 13th-century form, autretant lui en pend sor le nez, "as much hangs over his nose", meaning the same misfortune awaits him. The picture is of something dangling right in front of your face as you walk: you are about to bump into it, and only a small step aside could still save you. That is why the phrase marks a misfortune that is likely but not yet certain. Over time devant ("in front of") became au ("at"), sometimes au bout du nez, which blurred the image without changing the meaning. Rabelais has a related line, la roupie lui pend au nez (roupie being an old word for a drip at the end of the nose), where the drip stands for the threat, but this is a variant, not a confirmed source.