
IdiomDaily Life
French
Pousser le bouchon un peu loin
Meaning: To go too far; to overstep.
Literally: To push the cork a bit far
Example: “Demander une augmentation après deux jours de travail, tu pousses le bouchon un peu loin.” — Asking for a raise after two days on the job is going a bit too far.
English equivalent: To overstep the mark
Equivalents in other languages
English: overstep the mark
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.
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