prendre le train en marche
Meaning: To join opportunely in an action or endeavor already underway.
Language: French
Literally: to take the train in motion
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The phrase pictures boarding a moving train—a daring and timely act—as a metaphor for jumping into an ongoing venture.
More idioms — Daily Life
- aiguiser ses couteaux — To prepare oneself for conflict or confrontation.
- passer le Rubicon — To make a decisive, irrevocable commitment or choice with serious consequences.
- être à ramasser à la petite cuiller — To be completely exhausted, utterly without strength.
- être du propre — Used ironically to criticize something as morally or physically filthy.
- mettre à terre — To defeat or knock someone down.
- prendre des gants — To handle a delicate matter with great tact and care to avoid offending someone.
More French idioms
- être de mauvais poil — To be in a bad mood or irritable disposition.
- casser le nez à coups d’encensoir — To offer someone clumsy, exaggerated, and insincere flattery to their face.
- se casser la figure — To fall to the ground; to have an accident or suffer a collapse.
- péter une baloune — To cause deep disappointment; to shatter someone's illusions or hopes.
- remuer ciel et terre — To exert all possible effort and use every available means to achieve a goal.
- joindre le geste à la parole — To back up what you say with action; to keep your promises.
From our proverbs
- Hail brings frost in the tail. — Severe weather's worst effects linger after the initial storm passes, demanding continued…
- Better be half hanged than ill wed. — Marriage to the wrong person brings lasting torment worse than a swift, terrible death.
- A hand-saw is a good thing, but not to shave with. — Tools excel within their intended purpose; misusing the right tool for the wrong task cau…