retourner à la case départ
Meaning: To find oneself back where one began, as if no progress had been made.
Language: French
Literally: to return to the starting square
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The phrase draws on the image of a board game like Monopoly, where landing on the starting square after a long journey means returning to the beginning.
More idioms — Daily Life
- sentir la naphtaline — To be old-fashioned or antiquated.
- passer maître — To become the foremost expert in something.
- courir après les cotillons — To pursue amorous or romantic adventures.
- avoir de la tchatche — To be talkative and persuasive, to have the gift of gab.
- remonter plus haut — To begin a story or explanation at an earlier point in time to clarify or better illumina…
- n’avoir qu’à bien se tenir — A warning or threat implying that one must behave properly or face consequences.
More French idioms
- plumer la poule sans la faire crier — To extract money or advantage from someone so skillfully that they do not complain or res…
- compter sur les doigts d’une main — To be so few in number that they can be counted on five fingers or fewer.
- faire fureur — To provoke great enthusiasm or widespread popularity.
- tirer l’oreille — To scold or reprimand someone.
- pousser les feux — To intensify effort or energy; to redouble one's exertions to achieve a goal.
- tirer les oreilles — To scold someone harshly or punish them.
From our tongue twisters
- Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. — The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
- 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.