IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchUne promesse de Gascon
Meaning: A promise nobody expects to be kept.
Literally: A Gascon's promise
Example: “Il m'a juré de rembourser la semaine prochaine, mais c'est une promesse de Gascon.” — He swore he'd pay me back next week, but it's a pie-crust promise.
English equivalent: A pie-crust promise
Equivalents in other languages
English: a pie-crust promise
Origin: Gascons carried a national reputation for boastfulness, fixed for good by Cyrano de Bergerac and the Musketeers. The phrase is regional insult of a kind French produces in quantity.
More French idioms
- Le Grenelle de quelque chose A large multi-party negotiation convened to settle a national issue.
- C'est de l'hébreu It is completely incomprehensible.
- Vieux comme Hérode Extremely ancient.
- Un combat homérique A struggle of epic scale and duration.
- Un homme averti en vaut deux Advance warning doubles a person's effectiveness.
- Honi soit qui mal y pense Let anyone who reads something improper into this be the one disgraced.
Explore another collection: Proverbs
Short sayings of timeless wisdom from more than 50 cultures, each with its meaning and origin.
- Il faut balayer devant sa porte Deal with your own faults before criticizing other people's.
- Avec des si, on mettrait Paris en bouteille Speculating about what might have been is pointless.
- Faute de grives, on mange des merles When you can't have what you want, you make do with what's available.
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