IdiomFood & Drink
French
FrenchUn étouffe-chrétien
Meaning: Food so dense and stodgy it is hard to swallow.
Literally: A Christian-choker
Example: “Ce gâteau aux marrons est un vrai étouffe-chrétien.” — This chestnut cake is so heavy it's almost impossible to swallow.
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 French idioms
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- 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.
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