Remettre les pendules à l'heure
Meaning: To set the record straight and restore order.
Language: French
Literally: To set the clocks back to the right time
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Clocks that have drifted apart give everyone a different account of when things happened. Resetting them is asserting a single authoritative version.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Ce n'est pas le Pérou — It is not a fortune; it is nothing to get excited about.
- Un pétard mouillé — A revelation that was supposed to explode and did not.
- Peu ou prou — More or less; to some degree.
- Y a pas photo — It's not even close; there is no question about it.
- Ne tirez pas sur le pianiste — Do not blame the person who is only doing their best with what they were given.
- Qui va piano va sano — Slow and steady is the surer way.
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.
From our proverbs
- That which is easily done is soon believed. — Quick, effortless results breed credibility, while difficult achievements invite skeptici…
- Live not to eat, but eat to live. — Prioritize survival and health through eating, rather than making food consumption your l…
- Eat a bit before you drink. — Consuming food before alcohol slows intoxication and prevents impaired judgment from clou…
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