IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchSe réduire comme une peau de chagrin
Meaning: To dwindle away steadily until nothing is left.
Literally: To shrink like a piece of shagreen
Example: “Au fil des coupes budgétaires, l'équipe s'est réduite comme une peau de chagrin.” — Through round after round of budget cuts, the team has dwindled away to almost nothing.
Origin: From Balzac's 1831 novel La Peau de chagrin, whose magical scrap of shagreen leather grants its owner's wishes and shrinks with each one, taking part of his life as it goes. Chagrin here is the leather, not sorrow, though the pun works.
More French idioms
- Trouver chaussure à son pied To find exactly the right match, usually a partner.
- Ne pas y aller par quatre chemins To come straight to the point.
- Un chevalier d'industrie A swindler who lives by his wits at others' expense.
- La cheville ouvrière The linchpin — the person or thing on which an entire operation turns.
- Une chiffe molle A spineless person with no will of their own.
- Être au septième ciel To be in a state of perfect happiness.
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