Se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter
Meaning: To have an absurdly high opinion of one's own importance.
Language: French
Literally: To think oneself born from Jupiter's thigh
Category: The Absurd
Origin: Dionysus was carried to term in Zeus's thigh after his mother's death, making him divine by an unusually literal route. Claiming that descent is the most extravagant pedigree available, which is the joke.
More idioms — The Absurd
- Le tonneau des Danaïdes — A hopeless undertaking that consumes everything and is never finished.
- Au diable vauvert — Miles from anywhere; the back of beyond.
- Il n'y a pas le feu au lac — There's no rush.
- Par l'opération du Saint-Esprit — By some unexplained miracle — said sarcastically of something nobody will account for.
- À la Saint-Glinglin — Never — on a day that will never come.
- Une guerre picrocholine — A furious conflict over something trivial.
More French idioms
- Au creux de la vague — At a low point, with the expectation that things will rise again.
- Nager entre deux eaux — To avoid committing to either side.
- Une coupe sombre — A drastic reduction, especially of staff or budget.
- Nettoyer les écuries d'Augias — To clear up a vast accumulated mess, usually of corruption.
- Aux quatre coins de — All over; in every part of a place.
- Frappé au coin du bon sens — Manifestly sensible; bearing the stamp of sound judgment.
From our tongue twisters
- Si six scies scient six cyprès, six cents scies scient six cents cyprès. — An 's' / 'si' minefield.
- Dans ta tente ta tante t'attend. — A gentle 'ta / ten / tan / t'' warm-up that sounds faster than it reads.
- Seize chaises sèches sur seize arches sèches. — A relentless collision of 'sei', 'sèch', and 's' — the tongue can't find traction.
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