Welcome to our guide on “25 Silly French Idioms Explained,” where we dive into some of the quirkiest expressions in the French language. Below, you’ll find each idiom with its pronunciation in English, a literal translation, and what it means.
25 Silly French idioms
Here are the 25 idioms:
Poser un lapin
- Pronunciation: po-zay uhn lah-pahn
- Literal translation: To place a rabbit
- Meaning: To stand someone up
Avoir le cafard
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar luh ka-far
- Literal translation: To have the cockroach
- Meaning: To feel down or depressed
Chercher midi à quatorze heures
- Pronunciation: share-shay mee-dee ah ka-torz ur
- Literal translation: To search for noon at two o’clock
- Meaning: To make things more complicated
Couper la poire en deux
- Pronunciation: koo-pay lah pwahr ahn duh
- Literal translation: To cut the pear in half
- Meaning: To split the difference or compromise
Être dans la lune
- Pronunciation: et-ruh dahn lah loon
- Literal translation: To be in the moon
- Meaning: To be daydreaming
Mettre son grain de sel
- Pronunciation: met-truh sohn gran duh sell
- Literal translation: To put one’s grain of salt
- Meaning: To give an unsolicited opinion
Avoir un chat dans la gorge
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar uhn shah dahn lah gorzh
- Literal translation: To have a cat in the throat
- Meaning: To have a frog in one’s throat
Faire la grasse matinée
- Pronunciation: fair lah grass ma-teen-ay
- Literal translation: To do the fat morning
- Meaning: To sleep in
En faire tout un fromage
- Pronunciation: ahn fair too uhn fro-mahz
- Literal translation: To make a whole cheese out of it
- Meaning: To make a big deal out of something
Jeter des fleurs
- Pronunciation: zhet-ay day flur
- Literal translation: To throw flowers
- Meaning: To give compliments
Péter plus haut que son cul
- Pronunciation: pay-tay ploo oh kuh sohn kool
- Literal translation: To fart higher than one’s ass
- Meaning: To think too highly of oneself
Avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar layz yuh ploo gro kuh luh von-truh
- Literal translation: To have eyes bigger than the stomach
- Meaning: To bite off more than one can chew
Tourner autour du pot
- Pronunciation: toor-nay oh-toor doo poh
- Literal translation: To turn around the pot
- Meaning: To beat around the bush
Faire l’autruche
- Pronunciation: fair lo-troosh
- Literal translation: To do the ostrich
- Meaning: To bury one’s head in the sand
Monter sur ses grands chevaux
- Pronunciation: mon-tay sir say gran shuh-voh
- Literal translation: To climb on one’s big horses
- Meaning: To get on one’s high horse
Sauter du coq à l’âne
- Pronunciation: soh-tay doo kohk ah l’ahn
- Literal translation: To jump from the rooster to the donkey
- Meaning: To jump from one topic to another without logic
Avoir un poil dans la main
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar uhn pwahl dahn lah man
- Literal translation: To have a hair in the hand
- Meaning: To be lazy
Rouler quelqu’un dans la farine
- Pronunciation: roo-lay kel-kuhn dahn lah fa-reen
- Literal translation: To roll someone in the flour
- Meaning: To deceive or trick someone
Jeter de l’huile sur le feu
- Pronunciation: zhet-ay duh loo-eel sir luh fuh
- Literal translation: To throw oil on the fire
- Meaning: To add fuel to the fire
Faire la sourde oreille
- Pronunciation: fair lah soord or-ay
- Literal translation: To do the deaf ear
- Meaning: To turn a deaf ear
Tirer les vers du nez
- Pronunciation: tee-ray lay vair doo nay
- Literal translation: To pull the worms out of the nose
- Meaning: To pry information from someone
Vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué
- Pronunciation: vahn-druh lah poh duh loors ah-vahn duh lah-vwar tway
- Literal translation: To sell the bear’s skin before having killed it
- Meaning: To count one’s chickens before they hatch
Se mettre le doigt dans l’œil
- Pronunciation: suh met-truh luh dwah dahn luh-yuh
- Literal translation: To put one’s finger in the eye
- Meaning: To be completely mistaken
Avoir le cul entre deux chaises
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar luh kool ahn-truh duh shayz
- Literal translation: To have the ass between two chairs
- Meaning: To be caught between two stools
Prendre la mouche
- Pronunciation: prahn-druh lah moosh
- Literal translation: To take the fly
- Meaning: To get offended or angry over something trivial
We hope you enjoyed learning about these 25 silly French idioms and their meanings. These phrases add color and humor to the language, showing just how playful and imaginative French can be. Use them to spice up your conversations and impress native speakers!