regarder la pointe de ses souliers
Meaning: To lower one's eyes in embarrassment or shame.
Language: French
Literally: to look at the tip of one's shoes
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: The phrase draws on the common physical gesture of looking down at one's feet when uncomfortable or caught out.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- mettre ses deux mains au feu — To stake one's reputation or safety by guaranteeing something is true.
- tendre les bras — To offer help and support to someone, or to welcome them warmly.
- compter sur les doigts d’une main — To be so few in number that they can be counted on five fingers or fewer.
- tirer l’oreille — To scold or reprimand someone.
- tirer les oreilles — To scold someone harshly or punish them.
- ne plus savoir où donner de la tête — To be overwhelmed with work or demands.
More French idioms
- chercher des misères — To deliberately provoke a quarrel with someone.
- faire florès — To achieve success and build a reputation.
- fuir comme la peste — To avoid something or someone as much as possible.
- beurrer épais — To exaggerate or overdo something.
- retourner à la case départ — To find oneself back where one began, as if no progress had been made.
- sentir la naphtaline — To be old-fashioned or antiquated.
From our proverbs
- Frugality makes an easy chair for old age. — Spending restraint in youth builds financial security and comfort during elderly years wh…
- Take away fuel, take away flame. — Eliminating the source of a problem stops the problem itself from spreading or persisting.
- A full purse makes the mouth to speak. — Wealth emboldens people to voice opinions they might otherwise suppress through fear or s…