
IdiomDaily Life
French
Remettre les pendules à l'heure
Meaning: To set the record straight and restore order.
Literally: To set the clocks back to the right time
Example: “Après les rumeurs, la présidente a convoqué l'équipe pour remettre les pendules à l'heure.” — After the rumors, the president called the team together to set the record straight.
English equivalent: To set the record straight
Equivalents in other languages
English: set the record straight
Origin: Clocks that have drifted apart give everyone a different account of when things happened. Resetting them is asserting a single authoritative version.
More French idioms
- Prendre le train onze To go on foot.
- Vieux comme Mathusalem Extremely old.
- Comme un poisson dans l'eau Completely at ease in one's element.
- Tuer la poule aux œufs d'or To destroy a source of steady profit out of greed for all of it at once.
- Écrire un poulet à quelqu'un To send a love letter.
- À la queue leu leu In single file, one behind another.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
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- Quand le vin est tiré, il faut le boire Once you have committed to something, you have to go through with it.
- Un malheur ne vient jamais seul Misfortunes tend to come several at once.
- Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir It is better to stop a problem before it happens than to fix it afterwards.
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