Home › Idioms

Y a pas photo

Meaning: It's not even close; there is no question about it.

Language: French

Literally: There's no photo

Category: Daily Life

Origin: From racing, where a photo finish is called only when the result is too close to judge by eye. No photo needed means the margin was obvious.

More idioms — Daily Life

  • Ne tirez pas sur le pianiste — Do not blame the person who is only doing their best with what they were given.
  • Qui va piano va sano — Slow and steady is the surer way.
  • Prendre le train onze — To go on foot.
  • Vieux comme Mathusalem — Extremely old.
  • Mettre à pied — To suspend someone from their duties.
  • Jeter la première pierre — To be the first to condemn someone.

More French idioms

  • Comme un poisson dans l'eau — Completely at ease in one's element.
  • Tuer la poule aux œufs d'or — To destroy a source of steady profit out of greed for all of it at once.
  • Écrire un poulet à quelqu'un — To send a love letter.
  • À la queue leu leu — In single file, one behind another.
  • Avoir la queue entre les jambes — To slink off humiliated.
  • Manger à tous les râteliers — To take advantage from all sides at once, with no loyalty to any.

From our tongue twisters

  • Didon dîna, dit-on, du dos d'un dodu dindon dont le dodu dos dodine. — A 'd' / 'din' / 'dod' avalanche that seems designed to jam the tongue in third gear.
  • Un chasseur sachant chasser doit savoir chasser sans son chien. — The classic French 'ch' / 's' tangler.
  • Les chaussettes de l'archiduchesse sont-elles sèches, archi-sèches? — A merciless duel between 'ch' and 's'.

Browse all tongue twisters →

← Back to Idioms

Explore more: Proverbs Compliments & Insults False Friends Untranslatable Words Tongue Twisters

Loading the full interactive collection…