Sentir le fagot
Meaning: To reek of heresy; more broadly, to arouse suspicion or invite condemnation.
Language: French
Literally: To smell of the firewood bundle
Category: Nature
Origin: Born in the 16th century from execution by burning. The pyre was built of logs ringed with fagots of kindling laid to catch quickly, so the condemned smelled unmistakably of burning brushwood. First said of those judged irreligious, later of any person, opinion or work considered subversive.
More idioms — Nature
- L'arbre qui cache la forêt — A conspicuous detail that distracts attention from the larger reality behind it.
- Jeter son bonnet par-dessus les moulins — To throw propriety to the wind and stop caring what people think.
- Un baroud d'honneur — A last stand fought for honor when defeat is already certain.
- Avoir le vent en poupe — To be doing very well; everything is going your way.
- Avoir la tête dans les nuages — To be a daydreamer; out of touch with reality.
- Jeter de l'huile sur le feu — To make a bad situation worse.
More French idioms
- Faire ses ablutions — To wash oneself; to do one's daily toilet.
- Bouché à l'émeri — Dense, obtuse, narrow-minded; incapable of understanding.
- Griller un feu — To drive through a traffic light that is red.
- Éclairer la lanterne de quelqu'un — To supply the missing detail that lets someone finally understand.
- Outre mesure — Excessively, unreasonably, to an unwarranted degree.
- Une nuit blanche — A sleepless night.
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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