Une bête de somme
Meaning: Someone worked relentlessly at heavy, thankless labor.
Language: French
Literally: A beast of burden
Category: Animals
Origin: Somme here is not a sum but a load, from Latin sagma, a packsaddle — the same root that gives sommier. The phrase says nothing about the work's value, only its weight.
More idioms — Animals
- Se faire prendre pour un pigeon — To be duped as an easy mark.
- Avoir les portugaises ensablées — To be hard of hearing.
- Laid comme un pou — Extremely ugly.
- Le plancher des vaches — Dry land, as seen from the sea.
- Secouer comme un prunier — To shake someone violently.
- Le marchand de sable est passé — The children are getting sleepy.
More French idioms
- Un pique-nique — A meal eaten outdoors to which everyone contributes.
- Cracher dans la soupe — To disparage the thing that sustains you.
- Trempé comme une soupe — Drenched to the skin.
- Payer rubis sur l'ongle — To pay in full, immediately and to the last penny.
- Faire avancer le schmilblick — To make actual progress on something.
- Avaler des poires d'angoisse — To endure something bitterly painful.
From our proverbs
- England is the Paradise of women. — Women historically enjoyed greater legal protections, property rights, and social freedom…
- Enough is as good as a feast. — Contentment with sufficiency brings the same satisfaction as abundance without the excess.
- Enough and to spare is too much. — Abundance beyond necessity breeds excess and waste, inviting trouble rather than security.
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