IdiomAnimals
French
FrenchPrendre la mouche
Meaning: To take sudden and disproportionate offense.
Literally: To take the fly
Example: “Je lui ai juste demandé son âge, et il a pris la mouche.” — I only asked his age, and he flew off the handle.
English equivalent: To fly off the handle
Other ways to say this
- French: Sortir de ses gonds Literally: To come off its hinges
Spanish: perder los estribos Literally: To lose the stirrups
Portuguese: virar bicho Literally: To turn animal
English: fly off the handle
Origin: The mouche is the gadfly whose bite sends cattle stampeding without warning. The phrase describes the suddenness of the reaction rather than its cause.
More French idioms
- C'est la mer à boire It is an impossible or endless task — most often used in the negative.
- Faire son miel de quelque chose To turn something to one's own advantage.
- La substantifique moelle The essential substance of something, reached only by real effort.
- Refiler la patate chaude To hand an awkward problem to someone else.
- Dans le pétrin In serious trouble.
- Avoir du pain sur la planche To have a great deal of work ahead.
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