Riche comme Crésus
Meaning: Enormously wealthy.
Language: French
Literally: Rich as Croesus
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Croesus, last king of Lydia in the 6th century BC, whose gold was proverbial and who according to Herodotus was warned by Solon to count no man happy until he was dead. He was subsequently defeated by Cyrus, which is the part the phrase omits.
More idioms — Daily Life
- La critique est aisée, mais l'art est difficile — Faulting a work costs nothing compared with making one.
- Tant va la cruche à l'eau qu'à la fin elle se casse — Repeated risk-taking eventually catches up with you.
- Porter la culotte — To be the one who makes the decisions in a household.
- N'en avoir cure — To be entirely indifferent to something.
- Virer sa cuti — To undergo a complete change of convictions.
- Au grand dam de quelqu'un — To someone's considerable detriment or annoyance.
More French idioms
- Trouver son chemin de Damas — To undergo a sudden and total conversion.
- Une épée de Damoclès — A disaster hanging over someone, liable to fall at any moment.
- Entretenir une danseuse — To maintain a costly indulgence that serves no purpose.
- À l'usage du Dauphin — Expurgated; censored for delicate sensibilities.
- Les dés sont pipés — The outcome is rigged in advance.
- Au débotté — On the spot, with no time to prepare.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu as une cervelle de moineau — You're scatterbrained and forgetful.
- Tu es mon rayon de soleil — A warm way to tell someone they brighten your day.
- Joli comme un cœur — Utterly charming or adorable.
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