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The
French language presents a wide range
of expressions and a colourful figurative
language that can emphasize the situations
of everyday life.
It is a real branch of language which
is used often because it has an expressive
strength that is more direct and incisive
than normal language.
Most of the colourful expression of
French use the most known figures of
speech (similarities, metaphors, hyperboles,
…). |
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Se
regarder le nombril (To look at his/her
own belly button)
To be egocentric or selfish
En
faire tout un fromage (To make a cheese)
To make a lot of noise for nothing
Tomber
dans les pommes (To fall in the apples)
To faint
A
la Saint-Glinglin
To postpone to a far date
Poser
un lapin (To give a rabbit)
To stand somebody up
Dans
les vapes (In the fog)
To be confused
Avoir
les dents longues (To have long teeth)
To be ambitious
Prendre
son pied (To take his/her own foot)
To enjoy something
Avoir
un coeur d'artichaut (To have a hartichoke
heart)
To be fickle
Tomber
à pic
To fall in a sheer drop
Vouloir
le beurre et l'argent du beurre (To
want the butter and the money for the
butter)
You can't have your cake and eat it
Avoir
la gueule de bois (To have a wooden
head)
To be confused after having been drunk
Vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir
tué (To sell the fur of the bear before
having killed it)
Don't count your chickens before they're
hatched
Jeter
de l'huile sur le feu (To pour oil on
the fire)
To enlarge a problem
Trempé
comme une soupe (Wet as a soup)
To be totally drenched
Etre
au bout du rouleau (To be at the end
of the roll)
To be at the end of one's tether
Mettre
la charrue avant (devant) les boeufs
(To put the cart before the horses)
To be messy. To do things in an improper
order
Passer
comme une lettre à la post (To pass
as a letter at the post office)
To obtain something easily
Avoir
la dalle - Crever la dalle
To be hungry
Brûler
la chandelle par les deux bouts (To
burn the candle from both sides)
To waste
Bavard
comme une pie (Talkative as a magpie)
To be very talkative
A
la queue leu leu
To wait in signle line
Bouche
à oreilles (From the mouth...to the
ears)
To pass the word
J'en
mettrais ma main au feu (To put his/her
hand in the fire)
To be sure of something
Etre
(mettre) à côté de la plaque
To be completely mistaken
Que
dalle
Nothing at all
Avoir
la tête dans le cul (To have the head
in the ass)
To feel sick or confused after a party
Ca
fait des lustres ! Ca fait un bail
It has been a long time
Avoir
du cul / Avoir du pot / Avoir du bol
To be lucky
Vendre
la mèche (To sell the fuse)
To reveal a secret
Couper
les cheveux en quatre (To cut a hair
in four pieces)
To be too minutious
Avoir
un appétit d'oiseau / Manger comme un
moineau (To eat like a bird)
To have a weak appetite
Y'a
pas de lézard!
There is no problem
Se
mettre le doigt dans l'oeil (To put
a finger in the eye)
To make a bad mistake
Mine
de rien / Faire mine de rien
To stay unruffled, as if nothing had
happened
Etre
à la bourre
To be in a hurry. To be late
En
avoir marre / c'est marre!
Enough is enough
Fumer
comme un pompier (To smoke like a fireman)
To smoke a lot of cigarettes
Par
coeur
By heart
Etre
à l'ouest (To be on the west)
To be completely at sea
Au
fur et à mesure
As one goes along
Faire
un caca nerveux
To wig out / To freak out
Etre
mal barré
To be in big troubles
Tiré
par les cheveux
Something far-fetched |
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