french idioms Flashcards
(a level)
“au fur et à mesure”
little by little
“aller de l’avant”
to move(/go) forward
“baisser les bras”
to give up
“ça en vaut la peine”
to be worth it
“couper la poire en deux”
to find a compromise
“(to) split the pair in two”
“avoir d’autres chats à fouetter”
to have other things to do
“to have other cats to whip” –> (to have other fish to fry)
“être sans voix”
to be speechless
“c’est la goutte d’eau qui fait déborder la vase”
it’s the straw that broke the camel’s back
“it’s the drop of water that makes the vase overflow”
“avoir plusiers cordes à son arc”
(to have) more than one string to one’s/their bow
idek what this means in english sooo
“avoir la tête sur les épaules”
to be sensible
“to have a good head on your shoulders”
“avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre”
to bite off more than you can chew
“to have eyes bigger than your stomach”
“être à l’Ouest”
t o b e s p a c e d o u t
“to be in the West”
“il ne faut pas juger un livre à sa couverture”
you can’t judge a book by its cover
(literal translation = “musn’t”, not “can’t”)
“L’habit ne fait pas le moine”
the clothes don’t make the man
“the clothes don’t make the monk”
“il y a anguille sous roche”
there is something fishy going on
“there is an eel under the rock”
“tomber dans les pommes”
to faint
“to fall into apples”
“mettre la charrue avant les boeufs”
to put the cart before the horse
whatever that means…?
“un tien vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras”
a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
so poetic: “one you have is better than two you will have”
“L’avenir appartient à ceux que se lèvent tôt”
the early bird catches/gets the worm
“the future is for those who wake up early”
“sauter/passer du coq à l’âne”
to jump from pillar to post
“to jump from the rooster(/chicken) to the donkey”
“poser un lapin”
to stand somebody up
to put a rabbit
“prendre son courage à deux mains”
to take your courage in both hands
