IdiomAnimals
French
FrenchRabattre le caquet à quelqu'un
Meaning: To shut someone up; to take an insolent person down a peg.
Literally: To beat down someone's cackle
Example: “La victoire de l'outsider a rabattu le caquet au grand favori.” — The underdog's win took the big favorite down a peg.
English equivalent: To take someone down a peg
Equivalents in other languages
English: take someone down a peg
Origin: Caquet comes from caqueter, the cackling of a hen, and has meant idle self-important chatter since the Middle Ages. Rabattre is to beat down or knock flat, so the phrase is literally flattening the noise someone is making about themselves.
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- La caque sent toujours le hareng However far you rise, low origins always show through.
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- Il n'y a pas loin du Capitole à la roche Tarpéienne Glory and disgrace are close neighbors — the fall can follow the honors very quickly.
- Arriver comme les carabiniers To turn up far too late, when everything is already over.
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