IdiomBody & Senses
French
FrenchVider son sac
Meaning: To say everything one has been holding back.
Literally: To empty one's bag
Example: “Au bout d'une heure, elle a enfin vidé son sac sur ce qui la tracassait.” — After an hour, she finally got what was bothering her off her chest.
English equivalent: To get something off one's chest
Equivalents in other languages
English: get something off one's chest
Origin: Advocates once carried their case papers in a sack and emptied it before the court to present the whole matter. The sense of a complete and slightly aggressive unburdening is unchanged.
More French idioms
- De la poudre de perlimpinpin A worthless remedy sold with great confidence.
- Un lit de Procuste A standard imposed regardless of what it does to the thing being measured.
- Le rocher de Sisyphe A labor that must be repeated forever and never completes.
- Le supplice de Tantale Having what one wants permanently in sight and permanently out of reach.
- Une solution de continuité A break or gap — not, despite appearances, a solution to anything.
- Demain, on rase gratis A promise perpetually postponed.
Explore another collection: Compliments & Insults
Compliments and insults from around the world, from the sweet to the savage.
- 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.
- Peau de vache A mean, difficult, and unpleasant person — tough and unyielding like tanned hide.
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