Un étouffe-chrétien
Meaning: Food so dense and stodgy it is hard to swallow.
Language: French
Literally: A Christian-choker
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: Applied above all to heavy cakes and dry pastries. Chrétien here functions simply as a word for any person, a use common in older French where it stood in for 'ordinary human being'.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- Mettre de l'eau dans son vin — To moderate one's demands or soften one's position.
- De derrière les fagots — The very best, kept back for a special occasion.
- À la fortune du pot — Taking potluck; sharing whatever happens to be cooking.
- Séparer le bon grain de l'ivraie — To distinguish what is valuable from what is worthless.
- Se demander si c'est du lard ou du cochon — To be unable to tell what something is or how it is meant.
- Une autre paire de manches — A different matter entirely; a far harder proposition.
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.
From our compliments & insults
- Joli comme un cœur — Utterly charming or adorable.
- Tu as un cœur d'or — You are genuinely kind and generous.
- Tu déchires — You're awesome — you totally rock.
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