Rire jaune
Meaning: To force a laugh; to laugh while plainly not amused.
Language: French
Literally: To laugh yellow
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Nothing to do with Asian faces, whatever the folk assumption. Yellow has a long negative register in Europe alongside its positive one: Judas was painted in yellow, medieval law in some countries required Jews to wear it, sulfur's yellow belonged to Lucifer, être peint en jaune meant to be deceived by one's wife, and the Inquisition dressed its condemned in it. The usual account credits Saint-Simon in the 18th century and ties the yellow to the complexion of liver sufferers, who had little to laugh about. But Oudin has il rit jaune comme farine already in 1640, where farine (flour) is not the foodstuff but a word for a vicious sort — the Académie's 1694 dictionary glosses gens de même farine as people sharing the same vices. The yellow laugh was therefore an unhealthy, dissembling laugh a century before the invalids were blamed for it.
More idioms — Daily Life
- En jeter / Ça en jette ! — To look genuinely impressive.
- Con comme la lune — Exceptionally stupid.
- Faire un malheur — To cause a scene with serious consequences — or, oppositely, to be a runaway success.
- Se faire la malle — To clear off; to make a run for it.
- Faire le mariole — To show off; to play the smart aleck.
- Fumer la moquette — To be talking obvious nonsense; to be off one's head.
More French idioms
- Y a pas de lézard ! — No problem; it's all fine.
- Se retrouver une main devant, une main derrière — To be left with absolutely nothing.
- Avoir vu le loup — Said of a young woman, to have had sex; also, in some regions, to be hoarse.
- Ne pas y aller de main morte — To hit hard; to act without the slightest restraint.
- Bourrer le mou — To feed someone lies; to try to con them.
- Enculer les mouches — To split hairs; to fuss over trivial detail. Vulgar.
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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