Pousser le bouchon un peu loin
Meaning: To go too far; to overstep.
Language: French
Literally: To push the cork a bit far
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From the game of boules, where the bouchon is the small target jack. Throwing it too far makes the game unreasonable for everyone, which is exactly the complaint the phrase registers.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Tirer à boulets rouges — To attack someone ferociously and without restraint.
- Sans bourse délier — Without spending a penny.
- Un branle-bas de combat — Frantic preparation; a general commotion.
- Battre en brèche — To attack a position or argument until it collapses.
- Une brève de comptoir — An overheard bar-room witticism, usually absurd and unintentionally profound.
- Cela va faire du bruit dans Landerneau — That is going to cause a stir.
More French idioms
- Brut de décoffrage — Rough, unpolished, delivered without any finishing.
- De but en blanc — Point-blank; abruptly and without preparation.
- Avoir un cadavre dans le placard — To have a discreditable secret in one's past.
- C'est le cadet de mes soucis — It is the very least of my concerns.
- Fumer le calumet de la paix — To make peace after a quarrel.
- Enterrer la hache de guerre — To end a feud and set hostilities aside.
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
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