Below, we explore 25 weird French idioms, providing their pronunciation, literal translations, and what they mean in English. Get ready to dive into some of the most colourful expressions the French language has to offer!
25 Weird French idioms
Here are the 25 idioms:
Avaler des couleuvres
- Pronunciation: ah-vah-lay day koo-luvr
- Literal translation: To swallow snakes
- Meaning: To put up with a lot or to be forced to accept something unpleasant
Avoir le cafard
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar luh kah-far
- Literal translation: To have the cockroach
- Meaning: To feel down or depressed
Avoir un chat dans la gorge
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar uhn sha don lah gorj
- Literal translation: To have a cat in the throat
- Meaning: To have a frog in one’s throat; to be hoarse
Poser un lapin
- Pronunciation: po-zay uhn la-pan
- Literal translation: To put down a rabbit
- Meaning: To stand someone up
Sauter du coq à l’âne
- Pronunciation: so-tay doo kohk ah lahn
- Literal translation: To jump from the rooster to the donkey
- Meaning: To jump from one topic to another; to digress
Donner sa langue au chat
- Pronunciation: do-nay sah long oh sha
- Literal translation: To give one’s tongue to the cat
- Meaning: To give up guessing
Être haut comme trois pommes
- Pronunciation: et-ruh ho kohm trwah po-muh
- Literal translation: To be as tall as three apples
- Meaning: To be very short
Mettre son grain de sel
- Pronunciation: met-ruh son grahn duh sel
- Literal translation: To put one’s grain of salt
- Meaning: To give an unsolicited opinion
Tirer les vers du nez
- Pronunciation: tee-ray lay vair doo nay
- Literal translation: To pull worms from the nose
- Meaning: To extract information from someone who doesn’t want to give it
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; to make a situation worse
Tourner autour du pot
- Pronunciation: too-rnay oh-too-r doo po
- Literal translation: To turn around the pot
- Meaning: To beat around the bush
En faire tout un fromage
- Pronunciation: on fair too un fro-mahz
- Literal translation: To make a whole cheese out of it
- Meaning: To make a big deal out of something
Faire la grasse matinée
- Pronunciation: fair lah grahce mah-teen-ay
- Literal translation: To have a fat morning
- Meaning: To sleep in
Être dans de beaux draps
- Pronunciation: et-ruh don duh bo dra
- Literal translation: To be in beautiful sheets
- Meaning: To be in a difficult situation
Avoir un poil dans la main
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar un pwahl don lah man
- Literal translation: To have a hair in the hand
- Meaning: To be very lazy
Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard
- Pronunciation: sa nuh kass pah trwah pat ah un can-ar
- Literal translation: It doesn’t break three legs of a duck
- Meaning: It’s not anything special
Les carottes sont cuites
- Pronunciation: lay kah-rot son kwee-t
- Literal translation: The carrots are cooked
- Meaning: The situation is beyond repair; it’s all over
Passer du coq à l’âne
- Pronunciation: pah-say doo kohk ah l’âne
- Literal translation: To go from the rooster to the donkey
- Meaning: To jump from topic to topic without logic
Couper les cheveux en quatre
- Pronunciation: koo-pay lay shuh-vuh on katr
- Literal translation: To split hairs into four
- Meaning: To split hairs; to make fine distinctions
Revenons à nos moutons
- Pronunciation: ruh-vuh-non ah no moo-ton
- Literal translation: Let’s return to our sheep
- Meaning: Let’s get back to the subject at hand
Avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar lay zyeu ploo gro kuh luh vahn-truh
- Literal translation: To have eyes bigger than the stomach
- Meaning: To bite off more than one can chew
Pédaler dans la choucroute
- Pronunciation: pay-dah-lay don lah shoo-kroot
- Literal translation: To pedal in the sauerkraut
- Meaning: To go nowhere fast; to be stuck
Être soupe au lait
- Pronunciation: et-ruh soop oh lay
- Literal translation: To be milk soup
- Meaning: To have a quick temper
Faire l’andouille
- Pronunciation: fair lan-doo-ee
- Literal translation: To make the sausage
- Meaning: To act foolishly
Être un chaud lapin
- Pronunciation: et-ruh un show lah-pan
- Literal translation: To be a hot rabbit
- Meaning: To be very sexually active
Lâcher la grappe
- Pronunciation: lah-shay lah grap
- Literal translation: To let go of the bunch
- Meaning: To stop bothering someone; to leave someone alone
Monter sur ses grands chevaux
- Pronunciation: mon-tay sir say grahn shuh-vo
- Literal translation: To climb onto one’s big horses
- Meaning: To get on one’s high horse; to become indignant or haughty
Prendre la mouche
- Pronunciation: prond-ruh lah moosh
- Literal translation: To take the fly
- Meaning: To get offended or irritated over something trivial
Se faire poser un lapin
- Pronunciation: suh fair po-zay un lah-pan
- Literal translation: To be placed a rabbit
- Meaning: To be stood up (similar to “poser un lapin”)
Avoir une araignée au plafond
- Pronunciation: ah-vwar oon ah-rayn-yay oh plah-fon
- Literal translation: To have a spider on the ceiling
- Meaning: To have a screw loose; to be slightly crazy
Vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué
- Pronunciation: von-druh lah po duh loor ah-vahn duh lah-vwar too-ay
- 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 don luh-yuh
- Literal translation: To put one’s finger in the eye
- Meaning: To be completely mistaken
Être comme un poisson dans l’eau
- Pronunciation: et-ruh kohm un pwah-son don low
- Literal translation: To be like a fish in water
- Meaning: To be in one’s element
Manger de la vache enragée
- Pronunciation: mon-zhay duh lah vash on-rah-zhay
- Literal translation: To eat from the mad cow
- Meaning: To go through hard times
We hope you enjoyed discovering these unique French idioms and their meanings! Whether quirky, humorous, or downright bizarre, these expressions add richness and color to the French language, revealing cultural nuances and playful uses of words.