RIRE COMME UNE BALEINE
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Literally: laugh like a whale
Best equivalent: laugh one’s head off
See you tomorrow for the letter S, part of the A to Z challenge!
From A to Z, Twenty-Six Funny, Weird, Vivid French Expressions
April 19, 2018 by
COUPER LES CHEVEUX EN QUATRE
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Literally: cut hair in four pieces
Best equivalent: nitpick
Being precise and meticulous is asked from a hairstylist. But too much can be too much for other things in life, right?
See you tomorrow for the letter R, part of the A to Z challenge!
From A to Z, Twenty-Six Funny, Weird, Vivid French Expressions
April 18, 2018 by
METTRE LES PIEDS DANS LE PLAT
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Literally: to put one’s feet in the dish
Best equivalent: to mess up
When someone starts talking in a very unfiltered way about something everybody was careful to avoid, the French say he or she met les pieds dans le plat.
See you tomorrow for the letter Q, part of the A to Z challenge!
From A to Z, Twenty-Six Funny, Weird, Vivid French Expressions
April 17, 2018 by
S’OCCUPER (OU) SE MÊLER DE SES OIGNONS
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Literally: to care about one’s own onions
Best equivalent: mind one’s own business
The expression could have American origins. In the 1920s, many onion species grew in the U.S. People who worked in this field developed skills to learn how to distinguish the different kinds. Soon, they minded about their particular species, which became their exclusive business. Who knows for sure? What is sure, however, is that the French expression is used to remind someone to mind her/his own business.
The French can also say: Ce ne sont pas tes oignons. Literally: they are not your onions. In both expressions, oignons never designate onions but anything related to personal business.
See you tomorrow for the letter P, part of the A to Z challenge!
From A to Z, Twenty-Six Funny, Weird, Vivid French Expressions
April 16, 2018 by
LES DOIGTS DANS LE NEZ
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Literally: fingers in the nose
Best equivalent: hands down
When something is very easy to do, the French often say: les doigts dans le nez, implying that it’s so simple you have time to put your fingers in your nose while accomplishing the task. Here in the States, we are a little less graphic 🙂
See you tomorrow for the letter O, part of the A to Z challenge!
From A to Z, Twenty-Six Funny, Weird, Vivid French Expressions
April 14, 2018 by
AVOIR LA MAIN VERTE
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Literally: Have the green hand
Perfect equivalent: Have the green thumb
This expression doesn’t need any explanation.
For once, the French and the Americans fully agree.
Almost 🙂
See you Monday with the letter N, part of the A to Z challenge!
From A to Z, Twenty-Six Funny, Weird, Vivid French Expressions
April 13, 2018 by
LÂCHER LES BASKETS
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Literally: Let go off the baskets (remember: baskets are sneakers in French)
Best equivalent: Give a break (to someone)
Lâche-moi les baskets, for example, would be “give me a break,” or “get off my back.”
See you tomorrow for the letter M, part of the A to Z challenge!
From A to Z, Twenty-Six Funny, Weird, Vivid French Expressions
April 12, 2018 by
C’EST PARTI, MON KIKI!
Literally: It left, my Kiki.
Best equivalents: Here we go! We’re off.
The noun Kiki in French can also be used to designate the throat. But in this expression, it’s unrelated.
See you tomorrow with the letter L, part of the A to Z challenge!
From A to Z, Twenty-Six Funny, Weird, Vivid French Expressions
April 11, 2018 by
JALOUX COMME UN POU
Literally: As jealous as lice
Best equivalent: Green-eyed, green with envy
Do I need to explain more? Anyone who has dealt with lice knows how territorial the parasites can be.
As always, if you know an American English expression that would match the French expression du jour, go for it!
See you tomorrow with the letter K, part of the A to Z challenge!
Zero Plus Zero Equals the Head of Toto or a Month of French Idioms From A to Z
April 30, 2015 by
Today marks the end of the series a Month of French Idioms From A to Z.
Through familiar French expressions and their equivalents in American English, I’ve shared for twenty-six days my affection for my two favorite countries on earth.
Languages and cultures may vary from one place to another, but the need for human beings to use metaphors and visuals to express ideas is the same.
The last French idiom du jour illustrates, in my opinion, how language and culture make one and how making them yours can take some time.
ZÉRO PLUS ZÉRO ÉGALE LA TÊTE À TOTO
ZERO PLUS ZERO EQUALS THE HEAD OF TOTO
La Tête à Toto or The Head of Toto is a school game that was very much part of my French childhood.
It starts with this equation :
0+0=0
This how it works: You write the equation as a drawing and as you draw you recite.
ZÉRO
PLUS
ZÉRO
ÉGALE
LA TÊTE À TOTO
Since Toto’s head equals zero, his intelligence is also zero.
Toto was a popular character in my elementary school culture. There were also many Toto’s jokes.
The equivalent of the French Toto’s jokes would be for me the American “Knock Knock” jokes.
I didn’t find an American equivalent to this unique French idiom/game.
Wherever you live or are from, did you play a similar childish game that was part of your culture?
Since I brought up my children in the USA, I’d love to know if today French kids still play 0+0= la Tête à Toto and if the Toto’s jokes are still around.
Les Français? Est-ce que les enfants jouent toujours à la tête à Toto?
Although daily blogging is not my cup of tea (See? I have a hard to time to stop the flow of idioms!), I am very grateful for your company and have been looking forward to your visits and comments.
I especially thank the bloggers and readers who have stuck with me for the whole month of April.
Your support, your fun and also relevant comments have made this challenge much more interesting.
Bravo to each blogger who made it to the final line of the 2015 race through the alphabet.
See you soon for a Recorded Version of this Series of French idioms!
Evelyne Holingue 