Une madeleine de Proust
Meaning: A small sensory trigger that unlocks a flood of memory.
Language: French
Literally: A Proust's madeleine
Category: Daily Life
Origin: From À la recherche du temps perdu, where a madeleine dipped in lime tea returns the narrator's childhood entire. Proust's first draft used toast, which would have made for a less durable phrase.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Avoir maille à partir avec quelqu'un — To have a quarrel or a bone to pick with someone.
- Faire main basse sur quelque chose — To seize something wholesale.
- S'en laver les mains — To disclaim all responsibility for an outcome.
- Tout le saint-frusquin — The whole lot; everything one owns.
- Manu militari — By force; with physical compulsion.
- Faire le matamore — To swagger and bluster without the courage to back it up.
More French idioms
- Des yeux de merlan frit — A soppy, languishing look.
- Payer en monnaie de singe — To pay with worthless promises instead of money.
- La montagne accouche d'une souris — A vast effort or grand announcement produces something trivial.
- La mouche du coche — Someone who bustles importantly while contributing nothing.
- On n'attrape pas les mouches avec du vinaigre — Gentleness achieves what harshness cannot.
- Prendre la mouche — To take sudden and disproportionate offense.
From our false friends
- Rester — Actually means 'to stay' or 'to remain'. Je reste ici = I'm staying here — not taking a n…
- Attendre — Actually means 'to wait for'. J'attends le bus = I'm waiting for the bus. For attend an e…
- Actuel — Actually means 'current' or 'present-day'. Actuellement = currently — not 'actually'.
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