Savonner la planche à quelqu'un
Meaning: To sabotage someone quietly so they fail.
Language: French
Literally: To soap someone's plank
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A soaped plank cannot be walked on, and the person crossing it has no way to see that it has been prepared. The sabotage is deniable, which is the point.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Glisser une peau de banane — To engineer someone's public downfall.
- Battre son plein — To be in full swing.
- Péter les plombs — To lose one's temper completely.
- Faire le point — To take stock of where things stand.
- Pomme de discorde — The particular thing two parties are fighting over.
- En grande pompe — With elaborate ceremony.
More French idioms
- Comme le Pont-Neuf — In excellent shape despite considerable age.
- Enfoncer une porte ouverte — To make a great effort to establish something nobody disputes.
- La portion congrue — A bare minimum, grudgingly given.
- Saoul comme un Polonais — Extremely drunk.
- Défendre son pré carré — To protect one's own territory or area of authority.
- Lâcher la proie pour l'ombre — To give up something real in pursuit of something illusory.
From our false friends
- Pain — Actually means 'bread'. The hurting kind of pain is la douleur.
- Coin — Actually means 'corner'. A coin you spend is une pièce.
- Chance — Actually means 'luck'. Bonne chance! = Good luck! For chance (probability), say une possi…
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