Une éminence grise
Meaning: The unofficial power behind a public figure.
Language: French
Literally: A grey eminence
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Père Joseph, the Capuchin friar who served as Richelieu's confidant and agent, wore grey where the cardinal wore red — and Éminence was Richelieu's own style of address. The nickname made the arrangement visible without naming it.
More idioms — Daily Life
- À l'emporte-pièce — Trenchant and uncompromising, of a remark or judgment.
- Un enfant de la balle — Someone raised in the trade they now practice.
- L'enfer est pavé de bonnes intentions — Meaning well counts for nothing without acting well.
- Envers et contre tous — In defiance of universal opposition.
- À l'envi — Vying with one another; each trying to outdo the rest.
- Jeter l'éponge — To give up and concede.
More French idioms
- Passer l'éponge — To forgive and say no more about it.
- L'esprit de l'escalier — The perfect retort that arrives only after you have left.
- Tomber dans l'escarcelle de quelqu'un — To end up in someone's possession, often without their working for it.
- À bon escient — Advisedly; with proper judgment about when to do it.
- Des espèces sonnantes et trébuchantes — Hard cash, as opposed to promises or credit.
- D'estoc et de taille — With everything one has, by every available means.
From our proverbs
- A burnt child dreads the fire. — Pain from past harm creates lasting caution, sometimes excessively, toward similar danger…
- Business is the salt of life. — Commerce and productive work preserve society's vitality, preventing the staleness and de…
- Every man as his business lies. — Expertise and judgment develop naturally from close involvement with one's own work and r…
Loading the full interactive collection…