The French verb “Rouler” has several meanings. In the idiom du jour “Rouler” means “To Deceive.”
ROULER QUELQU’UN DANS LA FARINE
TO ROLL SOMEOME IN FLOUR
PULL THE WOOL OVER SOMEONE’S EYES
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In addition to “Rouler” there is the “Farine” or “Flour.”
In the older days comedians used flour as facial makeup and would then be unrecognizable from their public. The combo of “Rouler” and “Farine” reinforces the deceiving meaning of the expression.
However, it is common in France to drop the addition of the flour.
You can say, “Je me suis fait rouler,” meaning “I’ve been deceived,” or “Je l’ai roulé,” meaning “I’ve deceived him.”
I know of a few more explicit ways to express the same idea, in both French and English, but if you agree we won’t go there…
However if you know of another interesting idiom that tells of deception, go ahead.
See you tomorrow!
Evelyne Holingue 
Going to have to work back through your fascinating theme as it’s amusing and useful for a French character that I’ve created.
Thank you for stopping by, Roland, and glad if I can help to create a memorable fictional character. Stop by again for the rest of the alphabet!
This is a great one Evelyne! Roll someone in the flour – I’m going to use it sometime (just imagine the side-ways looks I’ll receive)!
Thank you, Mary. If you translate this French expression in a very literal way, it could indeed trigger some surprise. Believe me, I’ve been there!
Vos articles sont un délice pour les franglais comme moi! 🙂
Contente de vous amuser et de vous procurer un moment de régal, Sisyphus. Je m’informe en lisant vos billets! A demain.
I like this one. I am familiar with the “pull the wool over someone’s eyes” but it is lengthy. A shorter substitute, to “hoodwink” doesn’t seem to be popular these days, but I remember it from some old book that I read and I always liked it.
I find the English one a little too long as well, Dan, and I had never heard of “Hoodwink,” which is the reason I like this A to Z challenge. We all learn something along the way. Thank you again for your support and patience. Almost there!
This is one concept where English has quite a few colorful verbs. Like my favorite, bamboozled 🙂
We’ve got a few in French, too, but as I said I want to keep things clean here. As always, thank you for your constant visits and support.
To roll someone reminds me of the slang phrase, to roll someone, as in to rob the person when he is asleep or drunk. I like “to roll in flour.” It’s so graphic. Once you roll him over in a bunch of flour, it would be easy to deceive him.
The English slang phrase is really close to the French one if we don’t add the flour. I agree that this is what makes this expression more visual and explicit. Than you, Nicki.
See, always something new to learn here! Yes, in English to have been “rolled” usually means to have been stolen from… I love “Hoodwinked” and try to find ways to use it because it’s such a fun word! There is actually a cartoon movie named Hoodwinked! I’m going to look the word up and see if I can find out where it came from… Lisa, co-host AtoZ 2015, @ http://www.lisabuiecollard.com
Glad to have taught you a new French idiom, Lisa? Did your husband know it? 😊
As a frequent bread baker I really like this one. 🙂
Ha! I love to bake too! And like the feel of flour on my hands. Thanks, Susanna.