Un coup de semonce
Meaning: A deliberate warning, delivered before real consequences.
Language: French
Literally: A warning shot
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A naval semonce was a shot fired across a vessel's bow to require it to stop. The whole point is that it was aimed to miss.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Un train de sénateur — A slow, dignified gait.
- Nourri dans le sérail — Brought up inside an institution and knowing all its workings.
- Ce n'est pas une sinécure — It is not an easy job.
- Une chasse aux sorcières — A campaign of persecution driven by suspicion rather than evidence.
- Pas besoin de sortir de Saint-Cyr — It doesn't take a genius to work that out.
- Faire table rase — To sweep everything away and start from nothing.
More French idioms
- Prendre le taureau par les cornes — To tackle a difficulty head-on instead of avoiding it.
- Les vaches maigres — A period of hardship and scarcity — the opposite of les vaches grasses.
- Les vaches grasses — A period of plenty.
- Aller comme un tablier à une vache — To suit someone appallingly badly.
- Adorer le veau d'or — To make money one's god.
- Une tunique de Nessus — A gift that destroys the person who accepts it.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu as la tête sur les épaules — You're grounded, sensible, and dependable — not easily swept off course.
- Tu as le vent en poupe — Everything is going your way — you're riding a wave of momentum and success.
- Tu es un as — You're brilliant at what you do — the very best.
Browse all compliments & insults →
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