FrenchTirer le diable par la queue
Meaning: To struggle to make ends meet.
Literally: To pull the devil by the tail
Example: “Depuis qu'il a perdu son emploi, il tire le diable par la queue.” — Since he lost his job, he's been struggling to make ends meet.
English equivalent: To live hand to mouth
Origin: The phrase appears in the 1640s: Antoine Oudin recorded it in 1645 as working hard to earn a living, and the writer Vincent Voiture used it in a letter of about 1646. Why the devil's tail is involved is a mystery. Suggestions include begging the devil himself for help when everything else has failed, and a play on an empty purse, which was said to hold the devil. By 1762 the Académie française gave the modern sense, of someone who struggles to find enough to live on.
Equivalents in other languages
English: hand to mouth
More French idioms
- Passer du coq à l'âne To switch topics abruptly and illogically.
- Avoir le melon To be bigheaded and conceited.
- Avoir le cœur sur la main To be very generous and giving.
- Être soupe au lait To be quick-tempered and flare up easily.
- Ne pas être sorti de l'auberge To be far from done with one's troubles.
- Avoir la pêche To be full of energy and on top form.
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