Se magner la rondelle
Meaning: To get a move on. Vulgar.
Language: French
Literally: To shift one's washer
Category: Body & Senses
Origin: Nothing to do with hardware. The rondelle is slang for the anus, in that sense from the end of the 19th century, and the phrase belongs to a family in which any word for the backside will serve — se magner le train, se magner le cul, and so on with popotin or derche. The verb is older and quite respectable: from the 16th century se manier meant to move or to stir oneself, and se magner is a popular deformation of it from the middle of the 18th. Aristide Bruant, at the very start of the 20th century, is credited with attaching the various slang backsides to it.
More idioms — Body & Senses
- Avoir les deux pieds dans le même sabot — To be incapable of acting; to sit there doing nothing.
- Tomber dans les pommes — Suddenly losing consciousness — possibly derived from the older expression 'être dans les…
- Avoir la moutarde qui monte au nez — To be getting angry.
- Couper les cheveux en quatre — To over-analyze or split hairs.
- Se regarder le nombril — To be self-centered or narcissistic.
- Tomaten auf den Augen haben — To be oblivious to what's right in front of you.
More French idioms
- Rôtir le balai — To live in poverty — and later, to live a life of debauchery.
- Dormir comme un sabot — To sleep very deeply.
- Balancer la sauce / Envoyer la sauce — To ejaculate; to fire a burst from a weapon; or to open the throttle. Vulgar in the first…
- Tout schuss — Flat out; or straight down, without deviating.
- Chanter comme une seringue / Chanter comme une casserole — To sing badly out of tune.
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
- Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.
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