Une coupe sombre
Meaning: A drastic reduction, especially of staff or budget.
Language: French
Literally: A dark cutting
Category: Nature
Origin: In forestry the terms are the reverse of what they sound like: a coupe sombre thins a stand lightly and leaves it dark, while a coupe claire fells most of it and lets light in. Ordinary French inverted the meaning entirely, and the forestry sense is now the surprising one.
More idioms — Nature
- Nettoyer les écuries d'Augias — To clear up a vast accumulated mess, usually of corruption.
- Veiller au grain — To stay alert for trouble.
- Tomber des hallebardes — To rain extremely hard.
- L'été indien — A spell of unseasonably warm weather in autumn.
- La partie émergée de l'iceberg — The small visible portion of a much larger problem.
- Faire flèche de tout bois — To use every available means to achieve an end.
More French idioms
- Aux quatre coins de — All over; in every part of a place.
- Frappé au coin du bon sens — Manifestly sensible; bearing the stamp of sound judgment.
- Collet monté — Prim, stiff and old-fashioned in manner.
- Dans le collimateur — In someone's sights; singled out for scrutiny.
- Le complexe d'Œdipe — A child's unconscious attachment to the opposite-sex parent and rivalry with the other.
- De conserve — Together, in company — not to be confused with de concert.
From our compliments & insults
- Casse-pieds — A massive bore or pain in the neck — someone who wears you down with their irritating way…
- Espèce de patate — You dim bulb — a potato being the very picture of inert, unthinking stodginess.
- Quel râleur / quelle râleuse — You never stop moaning — everything is a complaint, nothing is ever good enough.
Browse all compliments & insults →
Loading the full interactive collection…