Une brève de comptoir
Meaning: An overheard bar-room witticism, usually absurd and unintentionally profound.
Language: French
Literally: A counter brief
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From Jean-Marie Gourio's Brèves de comptoir, collections of remarks transcribed in French cafés from 1987 onward. The books were popular enough that the phrase became the standard name for the genre.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Cela va faire du bruit dans Landerneau — That is going to cause a stir.
- Brut de décoffrage — Rough, unpolished, delivered without any finishing.
- De but en blanc — Point-blank; abruptly and without preparation.
- Avoir un cadavre dans le placard — To have a discreditable secret in one's past.
- C'est le cadet de mes soucis — It is the very least of my concerns.
- Fumer le calumet de la paix — To make peace after a quarrel.
More French idioms
- Enterrer la hache de guerre — To end a feud and set hostilities aside.
- Carpe diem — Make the most of the present rather than counting on the future.
- S'aplatir comme une carpette — To grovel; to let oneself be walked over.
- Rester sur le carreau — To be knocked out of the running; to be left for dead.
- Rouler carrosse — To live in grand style.
- Donner carte blanche — To grant someone complete freedom to act as they see fit.
From our untranslatable words
- Épanouissement — The full flourishing of a person — blooming into your most complete, radiant self. More t…
- Ressourcement — The act of returning to one's roots or origins to find renewal — going back to a place, t…
- Dépaysement — The disorienting yet often pleasant feeling of being far from home, immersed in the unfam…
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