FrenchSe battre contre des moulins à vent
Meaning: Fighting a hopeless battle against something immovable or pointless.
Literally: To fight against windmills
Example: “Vouloir changer cette loi tout seul, c'est se battre contre des moulins à vent.” — Trying to change that law on your own is tilting at windmills.
English equivalent: To tilt at windmills
Equivalents in other languages
English: tilt at windmills
Swedish: slåss mot väderkvarnar Literally: To fight against windmills
Russian: сражаться с ветряными мельницами (srazhat'sya s vetryanymi mel'nitsami) Literally: To fight with windmills
Origin: From Cervantes's Don Quixote (1605), in which the self-made knight charges a row of windmills, convinced they are giants, and is thrown from his horse by a turning sail. Madame de Sévigné was already using the windmill image in 1680, and the Académie française listed the phrase in 1835 for fighting imaginary enemies or obstacles. English "tilting at windmills" comes from the same chapter.
More French idioms
- Faire ses choux gras Profiting greatly from a situation at someone else's expense.
- Avoir un tuyau Having inside information or a useful tip about something.
- Faire la pluie et le beau temps Having complete control over a situation or someone's fate.
- Avoir une dent contre quelqu'un Holding a grudge or resentment toward someone.
- Faire le mort To lie low; to give no sign of life and avoid drawing attention.
- Ravaler ses paroles To take back what one has said; also, to hold back words one was about to say.
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