Sur la paille

Literally: On the straw

Example: “Ruiné par ses dettes de jeu, il s'est retrouvé sur la paille.” — Ruined by his gambling debts, he ended up down and out.

English equivalent: Down and out

Origin: In the 12th century paille meant a bale of wheat, and a little later the whole cereal stalk once the grain was off it. Straw has stood for poverty since the 13th century, and the logic is plain: it is what is left over from a crop, a thing of no real value, so a bed of it is a bed made of waste. Being obliged to sleep in a barn on the leavings, with no means of affording a proper soft bed in a proper room, is poverty stated as an image. Furetière has the phrase in the 17th century with coucher; être, finir, mourir and mettre all attached themselves later.