IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchS'aplatir comme une carpette
Meaning: To grovel; to let oneself be walked over.
Literally: To flatten oneself like a rug
Example: “Dès que le directeur hausse le ton, son adjoint s'aplatit comme une carpette.” — As soon as the director raises his voice, his deputy bows and scrapes.
English equivalent: To bow and scrape
Equivalents in other languages
English: bow and scrape
Origin: A carpette is a small rug, and the whole of its existence is being underfoot. The phrase describes someone adopting that position voluntarily.
More French idioms
- Être sujet à caution To be unreliable; not to be taken at face value.
- Caviarder un texte To censor a piece of writing by blacking out passages.
- Se serrer la ceinture To economize and go without.
- La femme de César ne doit pas être soupçonnée Those in public office must be above even the appearance of wrongdoing.
- Se réduire comme une peau de chagrin To dwindle away steadily until nothing is left.
- Appuyer sur le champignon To accelerate hard; to floor it.
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