Tourner autour du pot

Meaning: To beat around the bush.

Language: French

Literally: To turn around the pot

Category: Food & Drink

Origin: French kitchen metaphor, 16th century.

More idioms — Food & Drink

• Casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu'un — To talk behind someone's back.
• faire ses choux gras — Profiting greatly from a situation at someone else's expense.
• manger ses paroles — Having to take back or admit one was wrong about something said.
• mettre l'eau à la bouche — Making someone crave or desire something through temptation.
• tremper son biscuit — Engaging in a brief romantic or intimate encounter.
• faire la soupe à la grimace — Complaining or grumbling about something constantly.

More French idioms

• 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.
• Faire d'une pierre deux coups — To kill two birds with one stone.
• Faire d'une mouche un éléphant — To make a mountain out of a molehill; to exaggerate wildly.
• avoir des fourmis — Experiencing a tingling or prickling sensation in a limb losing circulation.
• être sur des charbons ardents — Being extremely anxious or impatient about something.

← Back to Idioms

Loading the full interactive collection…