IdiomFood & Drink
French
FrenchUn cordon-bleu
Meaning: An outstanding cook.
Literally: A blue ribbon
Example: “Sa grand-mère était un vrai cordon-bleu : ses gratins étaient célèbres.” — Her grandmother was a superb cook: her gratins were famous.
Origin: The cordon bleu was the sky-blue sash of the Order of the Holy Spirit, the highest French chivalric order under the Ancien Régime (pre-revolutionary France). Its members' famously good dinners transferred the name to the cooking, and it long outlived the order itself.
More French idioms
- Avoir les coudées franches To have complete freedom of action.
- Battre sa coulpe To publicly acknowledge one's own wrongdoing.
- Le petit doigt sur la couture du pantalon Standing rigidly to attention; obeying without question.
- Ôter une épine du pied à quelqu'un To relieve someone of a persistent difficulty.
- Un écorché vif Someone painfully hypersensitive to everything around them.
- Se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter To have an absurdly high opinion of one's own importance.
Explore another collection: False Friends
Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
- Coin Actually means 'corner'. A coin you spend is une pièce.
- Chance Actually means 'luck'. Bonne chance! = Good luck! For chance (probability), say une possi…
- Sympathique Actually means 'nice' or 'pleasant'. Il est très sympathique = He's very nice — not 'He's…
Keep exploring