IdiomDaily Life
FrenchCrude
FrenchCrudePéter les plombs
Meaning: To lose one's temper completely.
Literally: To blow the fuses
Example: “Coincé trois heures dans les bouchons, il a pété les plombs.” — Stuck in traffic for three hours, he blew a gasket.
English equivalent: To blow a gasket
Other ways to say this
- French: Péter une durite Literally: To burst a hose
English: blow a gasket
Origin: Lead fuses melted to break a circuit under overload, so blowing them was the system failing safely rather than catastrophically. French also says disjoncter, to trip out, from the same wiring.
More French idioms
- Saoul comme un Polonais Extremely drunk.
- Défendre son pré carré To protect one's own territory or area of authority.
- Lâcher la proie pour l'ombre To give up something real in pursuit of something illusory.
- Une victoire à la Pyrrhus A win whose cost makes it indistinguishable from defeat.
- En quarantaine In quarantine; isolated from contact.
- Tomber en quenouille To decline into neglect; to fall apart through mismanagement.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- On n'a rien sans rien You have to give something, effort or money, to get something.
- On récolte ce que l'on sème Your actions bring consequences that match them.
- Charbonnier est maître chez soi Everyone, however humble, is in charge in their own home.
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