Un moulin à paroles
Meaning: Someone who talks incessantly.
Language: French
Literally: A word mill
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A mill runs continuously, noisily, and without needing supervision. The comparison is about the mechanism rather than the output.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Sainte Nitouche — A woman who feigns innocence she does not have.
- Le nerf de la guerre — Money, as the thing without which nothing can be done.
- Convoler en justes noces — To get married.
- Trancher le nœud gordien — To solve an intractable problem by refusing its terms.
- Chercher des noises — To pick a quarrel deliberately.
- Être en odeur de sainteté — To be in favor with someone in authority.
More French idioms
- Œil pour œil, dent pour dent / La loi du talion — Retaliation exactly proportionate to the injury.
- Tuer dans l'œuf — To stop something before it can develop.
- À pied d'œuvre — On site and ready to begin.
- S'occuper de ses oignons — To mind one's own business.
- Pousser des cris d'orfraie — To protest with theatrical outrage.
- Un ouvrier de la onzième heure — A latecomer who receives the same reward as those who did the work.
From our proverbs
- Sweet discourse makes short days and nights. — Engaging conversation makes time pass pleasantly, transforming tedium into enjoyment thro…
- An ounce of discretion is worth a pound of wit. — Knowing when to stay silent protects you better than any clever remark ever could.
- Disease is oft the tax of pleasure. — Indulgent pursuits exact physical costs; excess demands bodily payment.
Loading the full interactive collection…