Reprendre du poil de la bête
Meaning: To recover one's strength or spirit after a setback; to bounce back.
Language: French
Literally: To take back some hair of the beast
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Rooted in an old folk-medicine belief that a hair from the animal that bit you could help cure the wound — the same origin as the English 'hair of the dog'.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- give up the ghost — To die, or to cease functioning entirely.
- make a fist of — To accomplish something with reasonable competence or success.
- body English — Subtle body movements a person makes to coax a moving object toward a desired direction,…
- all mouth and trousers — Full of loud boasting and empty talk, lacking substance or follow-through.
- turn on one's heel — To suddenly depart or walk away, often in a dramatic or dismissive manner.
- what's eating you — What is bothering or irritating you?
More French idioms
- Arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupe — To show up at a completely inopportune, awkward moment.
- Jeter le bébé avec l'eau du bain — To discard something valuable while getting rid of what's unwanted.
- C'est l'hôpital qui se fout de la charité — Said when someone criticizes another for a flaw they share themselves; the pot calling th…
- allonger pour le compte — To knock someone out in a boxing match; to fell someone.
- avancer masqué — To act in a hidden or anonymous way, concealing one's intentions or identity.
- passer un savon — To scold or rebuke someone harshly.
From our tongue twisters
- Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? — A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — An 's' / 'si' minefield.
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. — A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.
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