Un fil d'Ariane
Meaning: A guiding thread through something impossibly complicated.
Language: French
Literally: An Ariadne's thread
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Ariadne gave Theseus a ball of thread so he could retrace his way out of the labyrinth after killing the Minotaur. The point is the return journey — anyone can go in.
More idioms — Daily Life
- En file indienne — In single file, one behind another.
- La fin justifie les moyens — A worthwhile goal excuses whatever it takes to reach it.
- Conter fleurette — To woo someone with sweet talk.
- Des manœuvres florentines — Devious, elaborately indirect political scheming.
- De bonne foi — Sincerely, without intent to deceive.
- S'attirer les foudres de quelqu'un — To bring down someone's wrath on oneself.
More French idioms
- Ne pas pouvoir être au four et au moulin — To be unable to be in two places at once.
- Épater la galerie — To show off for the benefit of onlookers.
- Sans crier gare — Without any warning at all.
- Une promesse de Gascon — A promise nobody expects to be kept.
- Vouer aux gémonies — To denounce someone publicly and utterly.
- Cousin germain — A first cousin.
From our proverbs
- Cut your coat according to your cloth. — Live within your financial means rather than spending beyond what you can afford.
- It's not the gay coat that makes the gentleman. — Fine clothing cannot manufacture character; true gentility emerges from conduct and virtu…
- Let not the cobbler go beyond his last. — Each person works best within their area of expertise; overstepping into unfamiliar domai…
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