FrenchTendre les bras
Meaning: To offer help and support to someone, or to welcome them warmly.
Literally: To stretch out one's arms
Example: “Quand il a perdu son logement, ses cousins lui ont tendu les bras.” — When he lost his home, his cousins welcomed him with open arms.
English equivalent: To welcome someone with open arms
Equivalents in other languages
English: welcome with open arms
Origin: Holding out one's arms is the gesture of someone ready to embrace, catch or help another. French has used it figuratively since at least the 17th century: Bossuet wrote that Rome "holds out its arms to Caesar," and Pascal used it for welcoming everyone without distinction. It also works the other way, for someone pleading for help, as when Montesquieu writes that the pope "held out his arms" to Charles Martel.
More French idioms
- Retourner à la case départ To find oneself back where one began, as if no progress had been made.
- Sentir la naphtaline To be old-fashioned or antiquated.
- Passer maître To become the foremost expert in something.
- Plumer la poule sans la faire crier To extract money or advantage from someone so skillfully that they do not complain or res…
- Faire fureur To provoke great enthusiasm or widespread popularity.
- Pousser les feux To intensify effort or energy; to redouble one's exertions to achieve a goal.
Explore another collection: Untranslatable Words
Words that capture a feeling or idea English needs a whole sentence for.
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- Râler To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.
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