IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchTomber dans le panneau
Meaning: To fall for a trick or scam.
Literally: To fall into the panel
Example: “Le faux message de la banque était bien fait, et je suis tombé dans le panneau.” — The fake message from the bank was convincing, and I fell for it.
English equivalent: To fall for it hook, line, and sinker
Origin: A panneau here is a hunting net, stretched out so that game would run into it and be caught. The Académie française's first dictionary (1694) already has donner dans le panneau, alongside donner dans le piège (to walk into the trap), for letting oneself be caught out. Tomber (to fall) has since replaced donner as the usual verb.
Other ways to say this
English: have the wool pulled over your eyes- French: N'y voir que du feu Literally: To see nothing there but fire
More French idioms
- Avoir un cœur d'artichaut To fall in love easily and often.
- Avoir le bras long To have influence and useful connections.
- Découvrir le pot aux roses To uncover a hidden secret.
- Être dans de beaux draps To be in a real mess.
- Se faire rouler dans la farine To be conned or deceived.
- Tirer le diable par la queue To struggle to make ends meet.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Tel est pris qui croyait prendre Those who set traps for others often fall into them themselves.
- À chacun son métier, et les vaches seront bien gardées Things go best when everyone sticks to what they know.
- Pas à pas on va bien loin Slow, steady progress takes you a long way.
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