Expressions Idiomatiques #1 pages 1-62

Question 1

avoir le bras long

Answer 1

to have influence

Question 2

être un bourreau des coeurs

Answer 2

to be a Casanova, to be a lady killer

Question 3

avoir le coeur sur le main

Answer 3

to be kindhearted, to give the shirt off one’s back

Question 4

se croire sorti de la cuise de Jupiter

Answer 4

to think a lot of oneself, to think of oneself as God’s gift to the world

Question 5

se mettre le doigt dans l’oeil

Answer 5

to be entirely mistaken, to kid oneself

Question 6

tenir la jambe à quelqu’un

Answer 6

to bore someone with endless conversation, to corner someone

Question 7

avoir un poil dans la main

Answer 7

to shy away from work, to avoid work at all costs

Question 8

tomber sur un os

Answer 8

to meet a difficulty, to hit a snag

Question 9

casser les pieds à quelqu’un

Answer 9

to get on someone’s nerves, to bore someone stiff

Question 10

manger sur le pouce

Answer 10

to have a quick snack, to grab a bite to eat

Question 11

tirer le diable part la queue

Answer 11

to be hard up, to live from hand to mouth

Question 12

partir ventre à terre

Answer 12

to leave in a flash, to race off

Question 13

fair l’âne pour avoir du son

Answer 13

to play dumb

Question 14

chercher le petite bête

Answer 14

to nitpick, to split hairs

Question 15

avoir le cafard

Answer 15

to have the blues, to be down in the dumps

Question 16

appeler un chat un chat

Answer 16

to call a spade a spade

Question 17

entre le chien et le loup

Answer 17

at dusk, in the twilight

Question 18

sauter du coq à l’âne

Answer 18

to jump from one subject to another

Question 19

avaler des couleuvres

Answer 19

to put up with a lot, to swallow one’s pride

Question 20

poser un lapin à quelqu’un

Answer 20

to stand someone up

Question 21

courir deux lièvres à la fois

Answer 21

to work both ends against the middle, to have on’e finger in more that one pie

Question 22

avoir mangé du lion

Answer 22

to have a tiger in one’s tank, to have incredible energy

Question 23

une truie n’y retrouverait pas ses enfants

Answer 23

this place is a mess

Question 24

manger de la vache enragée

Answer 24

to go through hard times, to have very lean times

Question 25

fair un chèque en bois

Answer 25

to bounce a check, to write a rubber check

Question 26

casser du bois

Answer 26

to smash up one’s car

Question 27

montrer de quel bois on se chauffe

Answer 27

to show what one is made of

Question 28

ramasser une bûche

Answer 28

to fall down, to take a bad fall

Question 29

enlever une épine du pied à quelqu’un

Answer 29

to get someone out of a jam

Question 30

jeter des fleurs à quelqu’un

Answer 30

to speak highly of someone, to sing the praises of someone

Question 31

couper l’herbe sous les pied de quelqu’un

Answer 31

to pull the rug out from under someone, to cut the ground from under somebody’s feet

Question 32

manger les pissenlits par la racine

Answer 32

to push up daisies, to be dead

Question 33

couper la poire en deux

Answer 33

to meet halfway

Question 34

faire le poireau

Answer 34

to be kept waiting, to be left cooling one’s heels

Question 35

tomber dans les pommes

Answer 35

to faint, to pass out

Question 36

tirer les marrons du feu

Answer 36

to be used as a dupe or a tool

Question 37

se fendre la pêche

Answer 37

to laugh uproariously, to laugh one’s head off, to split one’s sides

Question 38

jeter de l’huile sur le feu

Answer 38

to stir up a quarrel, to add fuel to the fire

Question 39

tondre les oeufs

Answer 39

to be a skinflint, stingy

Question 40

pédaler dans la semoule

Answer 40

to take leave of one’s senses

Question 41

cracher dans la soupe

Answer 41

to spoil something so that it can only be enjoyed by you

Question 42

casser du sucure sur les dos de quelqu’un

Answer 42

to talk about someone behind his or her back

Question 43

rôtir le balai

Answer 43

to lead the high life

Question 44

mettre quelqu’un en boîte

Answer 44

to make fun of someone, to pull someone’s leg

Question 45

tirer la couverture à soi

Answer 45

to take the lion’s share, to take all the credit

Question 46

tomber sur les quartre fers en l’air

Answer 46

to fall flat one’s back

Question 47

être une vraie girouette

Answer 47

to change with the weather

Question 48

passer au peigne fin

Answer 48

to search thoroughly, to go through something with a fine tooth comb

Question 49

envoyer quelqu’un aux pelotes

Answer 49

to send someone away, to send someone about his or her business

Question 50

tourner autour du pot

Answer 50

to beat around the bush

Question 51

payer les pots cassés

Answer 51

to pay the piper, to suffer the consequences

Question 52

passer un savon à quelqu’un

Answer 52

to reprimand someone, to give someone a good dressing-down

Question 53

tirer les sonnettes

Answer 53

to network, to put the word out about something

Question 54

se mettre à table

Answer 54

to confess, to come clean

Question 55

saisir la balle au bond

Answer 55

to seize the opportunity, to jump at the opportunity

Question 56

mettre les bâtons dans les roues de quelqu’un

Answer 56

to throw a monkey wrench into someone’s business

Question 57

reprendre ses billes

Answer 57

to renege on a deal

Question 58

un coup d’épée dans l’eau

Answer 58

a wasted effort

Question 59

ronger son frein

Answer 59

to champ at the bit, to barely contian one’s impatience

Question 60

il tombe des hallebardes

Answer 60

it’s raining cats and dogs

Question 61

avoir les jetons

Answer 61

to be scared, to have the jitters or willies

Question 62

voir le monde par le petit bout de la lorgnette

Answer 62

to exaggerate about oneself, to get things out of proportion