
IdiomDaily Life
French
Une tour de Babel
Meaning: A place of hopeless confusion, especially one where nobody speaks the same language.
Literally: A tower of Babel
Example: “Avec vingt nationalités autour de la table, la réunion était une vraie tour de Babel.” — With twenty nationalities around the table, the meeting was a real Tower of Babel.
English equivalent: A Tower of Babel
Equivalents in other languages
English: a Tower of Babel
Origin: From Genesis, where humanity builds a tower to reach heaven and has its single language confounded into many so the work cannot continue. The name puns on Hebrew balal, to confuse.
More French idioms
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- Le benjamin The youngest member of a family, team or group.
- C'est la Bérézina A total, chaotic disaster.
- Chercher la petite bête To nitpick; to hunt for a trivial fault.
- Passer sur le billard To undergo surgery.
- Se faire blackbouler To be rejected, voted down or heavily defeated in an election.
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