Vouer aux gémonies
Meaning: To denounce someone publicly and utterly.
Language: French
Literally: To consign to the Gemoniae
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The Gemonian stairs in Rome were where the bodies of executed criminals were exposed to the crowd before being thrown into the Tiber. The phrase means a destruction of reputation carried out in public and meant to be seen.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Cousin germain — A first cousin.
- Faire partie du Gotha — To belong to the highest society.
- Des goûts et des couleurs on ne discute pas — There is no arguing with personal preference.
- Mettre le grappin sur quelque chose — To get one's hooks into something and not let go.
- De gré ou de force — Willingly or unwillingly; one way or another.
- Le Grenelle de quelque chose — A large multi-party negotiation convened to settle a national issue.
More French idioms
- L'habit ne fait pas le moine — Appearances do not establish what someone is.
- 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.
From our compliments & insults
- Tu as la tête sur les épaules — You're grounded, sensible, and dependable — not easily swept off course.
- Tu as le vent en poupe — Everything is going your way — you're riding a wave of momentum and success.
- Tu es un as — You're brilliant at what you do — the very best.
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