Idioms
Misery loves company
January 3, 2008
Do you know if a French equivalent exists for this expression? In general, idioms being the expression of popular wisdom, whose roots are shared by most European countries (the Bible, Greek and Latin literature), most English proverbs have French equivalents,...
Swings and roundabouts
November 9, 2007
Read in today’s Guardian: Once again, Michael Jackson's happiness is tinged with pain, as his triumphant return to a magazine coverspot is set in counterpoint to news that a mortgage company is on the point of repossessing his Neverland...
Halcyon days
October 19, 2007
A period of time in the past that was idyllically happy and peaceful. The halcyon is a mythical bird said by ancient writers to breed in a nest floating at sea at the winter solstice, charming the wind and...
Bon viveur
October 3, 2007
Read in yesterday’s Guardian: Ned Sherrin, wit, impresario, bon viveur and Radio 4 Stalwart, dies at 76. The Compact Oxford English dictionary tells us that bon viveur is another term for bon vivant. — ORIGIN pseudo-French, from French bon ‘good’...
Til the cows come home
August 22, 2007
Relatively modern amplifications of this one include "till the cows come home in the morning" and "till hell freezes over and the cows come skating home over the ice". The expression has meant "a long, long time" for a...
The lion's share
July 13, 2007
The UK currently accounts for the lion’s share of web budgets This sentence led me to look up the origin of the expression "the lion’s share". It means to take everything, to not share at all, although I’ve heard...
Être la lanterne rouge
July 4, 2007
The Tour de France is starting in London this weekend. The Guardian has produced a booklet giving all sorts of information about it, including a short glossary of cycling terms. Amongst others, I learnt that the expression Être la lanterne...
To play gooseberry
June 21, 2007
My recent entry on berries reminded me of an email I received from a friend, quite a while back, following a conversation where we debated the origin of "playing gooseberry": I did a quick Google search on "playing gooseberry"...
It's grim up North
May 23, 2007
I’m off to the North-East of England for a week, and someone I mentioned this to reacted by saying, amongst other things, "it’s grim up North". This is an expression I’ve heard many, many times without ever wondering where...
To be no Spring chicken
April 25, 2007
When I wrote my entry about Spring, I came across the expression "to be no Spring chicken". I mentally translated it as "ne plus être tout jeune" (to no longer be quite as young as one used to be). However,...
To have egg on one's face
April 17, 2007
Listening to the news this morning, I heard the following statement: " The hostage situation has left Britain with egg on its face". "To have egg on one's face" means to be very embarrassed or made to look silly. There...
Bright and early
March 27, 2007
Yesterday I received an email from a client which finished by a cheerful: "So see you Wednesday morning, bright and early!!" Bright and early indeed. A taxi is coming to pick me up at 4:45am and I’m off to France...
Brass monkey weather
January 24, 2007
It’s brass monkey weather in the South-East of England at the moment, as heard on the BBC weather forecast last night. This expression is in fact the shortened version of "cold enough to freeze the balls off a brass...
Tailgate party
September 28, 2006
Can someone explain where the expression "tailgate party" comes from? I've just spent ages looking for its translation (fête d'avant-match) and I'm very puzzled....
The angels' share
September 19, 2006
During a recent visit to a vineyard in the beautiful Saint-Émilion area, we were told that the lovely, sweet and woody smell in the wine store-house is the result of alcohol evaporating. It is called la part des anges...
Jump the shark and jump the couch
September 15, 2006
"Jumping the shark" is an expression which means that something has reached its peak and can only go downhill from that point. It comes from an episode of Happy Days, in which Fonzie actually jumps a shark on water skis....
Coup du sombrero
July 4, 2006
Now I’m not one to boast: I’m mentioning my latest footballing triumph purely for a linguistic purpose (and the World Cup is on, after all). I did a superb "coup du sombrero" last Wednesday (not just on anyone! On...
A load of tosh
January 20, 2006
I am currently reading Underground London, by Stephen Smith. It mentions toshers, who used to go down into London sewers to hunt for any valuable objects that might have been lost and washed away. Not the most glittering of careers,...
Expressions taken from the Bible
November 30, 2005
A reader asked me how "The scales fell from my eyes" should be translated in French. Very literally: "Les écailles me tombent des yeux". It is an expression taken from the Bible (Acts 9:18) and this led me to wonder...
Whet/wet one's appetite
November 21, 2005
Ha ha! I believe an eggcorn (it is an eggcorn, isn’t it Chris?) has been spotted in the wild on this very website (in the comments of the entry before this one)! Apparently, it’s a very common one: a search...
De but en blanc and ŕ brűle-pourpoint
November 18, 2005
While writing my so-called novel, I caught myself using the expression "de but en blanc", which means suddenly, without warning. According to my useful Dictionnaire d’expressions et locutions, it comes from shooting. "Blanc" represents the target, while "but" should really...
Racist expressions ?
June 28, 2005
As I was researching the origin of the word picnic (I was wondering whether it came from French pique-nique or the other way around), I came across a document claiming that it came from an Oklahoma custom of having a...
To be eaten up
June 2, 2005
Thanks to Max for providing me with an entry, as I struggle to get back into work after a few days on the beautiful île de Ré. He asks me how I would translate the expression “it is eating me...
Pete Tong and a butcher's whistle
May 23, 2005
More rhyming slang came my way this week, and it was interesting for several reasons. Two different friends used it casually in conversation: Marie: "I'll be there on Saturday. It'll give me a chance to have a butcher's at the...
Ne'er cast a clout til May is out
May 16, 2005
Aha! I thought, as I read this entry in Emma Kennedy's blog. She mentions the expression "Ne'er cast a clout til May is out", and I thought I could finally establish a logical pattern of equivalence between French and English...
April showers and Giboulées de mars
April 8, 2005
Yesterday, on my way to the shops, I was caught in what I would describe as a giboulée de mars. Now, as I live in Britain, the nearest translation I have is April shower (even though the de mars part...
A can of worms
March 30, 2005
Journalist: "Well yes, but one thing is obvious: this might open a real can of beans." Eminent pundit: "Err, yes, a can of beans, indeed..." [Pause] Suddenly not so stern-sounding journalist: "Oh dear, did I say can of beans? I...
Faire les quatre cents coups
March 7, 2005
I was reading about the French film festival in Brighton when I saw that they were showing The 400 Blows, by François Truffaut. Tut, tut, I said to myself. This is a literal translation of the original title "Les 400...
Il est tombé dedans quand il était petit
March 4, 2005
"L'écologie? Il est tombé dedans quand il était petit!" (Ecology? He fell in it when he was small!) Those of you who are familiar with Astérix and Obélix will know that this is a reference to Obélix the Gaul. Obélix...
As dull as ditchwater/dishwater
February 16, 2005
"It was as dull as a dishwasher." My friends' giggly response suggested that what I had said wasn't quite right. Whilst this isn't as unusual as I'd perhaps like to admit on this blog, I hadn't expected the ensuing squabble...
Dutch courage and Dutch treat
February 14, 2005
Béné asked me the following question in the comments on the French side: "I've encountered "Dutch treat" and "Dutch courage" in a translation. Do you know equivalent expressions using nationalities?" These two expressions are a good illustration of a basic...
Avoir les jambes en coton
February 7, 2005
I was reading an article about Stanislav Petrov, the man who saved the world in 1983 (via hopping from blog to blog, and hence unable to provide a reference), when I saw this sentence: "I was not sweating," Petrov said,...
Bog standard
January 31, 2005
I am currently working on a fascinating document dealing with education in Britain. It mentions Blair calling comprehensive schools bog standard, or ordinary, in 2001, causing a public outcry. Whilst this is a phrase that we're all familiar with, I...
A load of cobblers
January 14, 2005
"That's a load of cobblers." I'm not sure where I heard this expression recently, but it's common and I thought that it probably was rhyming slang (slang in which a word is replaced by a phrase which rhymes with it)....
The writing is on the wall
December 6, 2004
I came across the expression the writing is on the wall in a translation about the environment explaining that climate change and all its horrid consequences are inevitable. I immediately thought of the translation: C'est écrit (It is written, and...
Happy as Larry
November 26, 2004
A reader asked me about the origin of the expression "happy as Larry", which means being very happy. It looks like nobody is entirely sure. It was first recorded in 1905 and according to abc.net, "Sidney J Baker, in his...
To call a spade a spade and To rain cats and dogs
October 13, 2004
You know the expression "to call a spade a spade"? Well, in French, it's "appeler un chat un chat" (To call a cat a cat). And here, it's raining cats and dogs, but in France it would be raining halberds...
Lame duck
October 6, 2004
These days, it seems that whenever you get "Tony Blair" in a sentence, sooner or later you'll hear "lame duck". Here is the origin of this odd expression : The phrase "lame duck" was first applied on the London Stock...
Practice makes perfect
September 17, 2004
You know when you're looking for an expression, and you're convinced it's there, in the recesses of your brain, but however much you hit yourself around the head to try and dislodge it, it just won't budge? How infuriating is...
All wool and a yard wide
August 18, 2004
Top Cat: You're all cop and a yard wide. Dibble: Thanks! Dibble: Hey… Wait a minute. Top Cat gives Dibble what looks like a compliment in an admiring tone of voice ; Dibble starts by being flattered but as the...
The whole nine yards
July 2, 2004
Polite clapping. Four more runs for Sussex in a lively one-day match against Durham. It's a real shame that the wind is freezing in the Sussex County Cricket ground, otherwise this would be a perfect way to end a Wednesday....
Nautical expressions
June 21, 2004
Here I was, on my windsurf board, gliding along the reservoir, proud and happy, feeling like a starry-eyed Kate Winslet in Titanic (the Queen of the world bit, not the sinking bit). Then my instructor shouts at me: "Céline, you're...
To watch like a hawk
April 19, 2004
Ah, Scotland. Walking in amazingly beautiful glens, trying (and failing) to decipher what the locals are saying, and scanning the mountain tops for golden eagles (that remained elusive till the end). This last pastime during our holiday in stunning Scotland...
Je te connais comme si je t'avais tricoté(e)
April 2, 2004
Now for a little treat, one of my favourite French expressions, although it's really not common at all (1 hit in Google) and I must admit I don't think anyone but my mum uses it. It literally means, "I know...
The Bee's Knees
March 17, 2004
Well, I'm astounded. The bee's knees?? That's an expression? And all these years I've thought people were saying business in a funny way. Thanks to today's entry on Open Brackets, I can now stop giving my very own version of...
Good fences make good neighbours
March 1, 2004
I found this expression while subtitling an episode of The Dukes of Hazzard. It is meant to indicate that the best way to maintain cordial relationships with your neighbours is to make sure their space and yours are clearly demarcated....
Neck of the Woods
February 9, 2004
"Neck of the woods" is a particularly odd expression to use when you live in a city and that the nearest thing to a wood around your house is the trees that line your street. However, saying "in my neck...
Entre chien et loup
February 6, 2004
Of all the expressions in the French language, Entre chien et loup (literally translated as between dog and wolf) has to be my all-time favourite. It was brought to my attention by Meredith, who came across the phrase in an...
Like pinning jelly to a wall
January 29, 2004
Blaming Tony Blair is like trying to pin jelly to a wall. I heard this expression earlier today on Radio 4. The journalist was commenting on how miraculously Tony Blair had been absolved by the Hutton enquiry into the death...
To have kittens
December 12, 2003
Most of yesterday was spent on the phone, sending IM, e-mails and SMS, while trying to remain focused on work, which was slowly but surely piling up. Our friend Gabs was in labour and information was scant. In the evening,...
To scrape the bottom of the barrel
December 3, 2003
Ah, subtitling The Flintstones, The Simpsons and other comedies. Great fun, but an awful lot of idioms to deal with... For example, in an episode I did this week, Fred tells Wilma that he’s not joining the army but helping...