The flies one makes so much sense it barely qualifies as weird! The one about reaching for the beast's fur within sounds like finding one's inner beast or animal. I'd never have thought of remedies for pulling up the last reserve so much as tapping for that animal wellspring... so unfortunate when things are new and we know exactly what they refer to, some student of cultural linguistics doesn't write these things down!
My vote goes to those who suggest pulling the devil's tail is related to an empty purse housing the devil since poverty, or an empty purse, can indeed lead to temptation by the devil to engage in theft or other crimes of need. Plus, there are a number of sayings in English about someone being tight fisted or extremely thrifty keeping their purse strings pulled tight.
Says a French who uses lots of thèse colorful expressions…
The other day I way trying to explain to a non-French this one “on ne va pas se mettre la rate au court-bouillon” which I’d just used and even my (French) son was frowning at me with a puzzled look because he didn’t get it.
How about “ tirer les vers du nez”?! To pull worms from the nose! It means to wrestle information from someone. Another one I love is “être à cheval sur la literie » , to be on horseback on bedding, which means to be very particular over things, to have principles, to be fussy.
J'adore! Surtout l'accent français ! (Je vis au Québec...) One of the things I love the most is to translate expressions (of this kind) into English, and use them in a story/poem. I think they are charmingly weird! No English person would think to say "happier than licorice" (más feliz que un regaliz), but why not? It's so creative! (This was a fun read on a cold Sunday morning in Montreal. merci!)
Or all the ways to be loving and seducing in French - doesn't the English speaking world love that? The more we played on our "european:ness" the more we would sell...!
As long as you warn people that slang, however vulgar, can be offensive coming from non-French speakers--or even insulting. I had a francophone mother and eight years of French and have always been careful in France and Belgium to keep my French proper, unless it was someone I knew well, like an old friend in Brussels.
Yeah I'm not sure I'll go for slang. Maybe I'll make people discover some nice bits of writing in their original language. I was thinking of recording some pieces of poetry or some theatre monologues in French. But not sure if there's really an audience for this.
Comme d'habitude, j'adore cette section du blog... merci!
Merci Ethan!
🤣🤣🤣okay this must be appropriate when one has noodle booty: To defecate a clock. 🤣🤣🤣
Exactly
The flies one makes so much sense it barely qualifies as weird! The one about reaching for the beast's fur within sounds like finding one's inner beast or animal. I'd never have thought of remedies for pulling up the last reserve so much as tapping for that animal wellspring... so unfortunate when things are new and we know exactly what they refer to, some student of cultural linguistics doesn't write these things down!
My vote goes to those who suggest pulling the devil's tail is related to an empty purse housing the devil since poverty, or an empty purse, can indeed lead to temptation by the devil to engage in theft or other crimes of need. Plus, there are a number of sayings in English about someone being tight fisted or extremely thrifty keeping their purse strings pulled tight.
Anyway, I read this post with enjoyment!
Thanks Yehawes!
I don’t feel that weird anymore!
Says a French who uses lots of thèse colorful expressions…
The other day I way trying to explain to a non-French this one “on ne va pas se mettre la rate au court-bouillon” which I’d just used and even my (French) son was frowning at me with a puzzled look because he didn’t get it.
“Let’s not stress out…”
Merci !
De rien sybille!
J’apprécie tout les mots et ton pronunciation pour chaque phrase. L’histoire des phrases est très drôle! Merci pour ma heureusement.
De rien Tabitha.
J'aime la page.
"Je m'en fou"
If it's not somewhere on your site, please add,
I use it a lot, yet I can't find it.
it's a category at the top called 'French Expression' can you not see it?
I wasn't sure if you wrote about "Je m'en fou" .
It seems common. but French has a long, long, long list of idioms.
Je m'en fou is super common, even kids kinda say it. Even though foutre is literally sperm lol
It's one of those things I guess
Hilarious. I'm going to share these with my students tomorrow. Minutes the cursing lol
Perfect.
This is wonderful. I’m defecating clocks all over the place. 😂
Perfect
This article was a lot better than studying Duolingo. Thanks for the entertaining read.
🙌
Wild! Just love these all.
Thanks Jeanine.
How about “ tirer les vers du nez”?! To pull worms from the nose! It means to wrestle information from someone. Another one I love is “être à cheval sur la literie » , to be on horseback on bedding, which means to be very particular over things, to have principles, to be fussy.
These are really funny, indeed. I totally want to include them next time!
Et les doigts dans le nez 🤣
"To defecate a clock" — I am mystified at how the French mind works.
Yes haha. And that one is actually used quite a bit, although it's pretty vulgar to be fair
I think the phrase might come from the acceptance of our chronically late disease… why bother ??? On va pas en chier une pendule non plus 🤣
Merci, j’ai adoré parcourir ces lignes✨
De rien!
J'adore! Surtout l'accent français ! (Je vis au Québec...) One of the things I love the most is to translate expressions (of this kind) into English, and use them in a story/poem. I think they are charmingly weird! No English person would think to say "happier than licorice" (más feliz que un regaliz), but why not? It's so creative! (This was a fun read on a cold Sunday morning in Montreal. merci!)
Thanks Imola!
Rigolo! It's not weird, but I love the phrase faire du cinéma for when someone's being too theatrical, too dramatic (or a diva).
Mais entre nous, it's really shit a clock. Defecate is too formal.
My mum used to say 'Quel comedien celui la'
We’ll all be fluent in the most beautiful bizarre French way 🪄
I wonder what I should do next... Slang?
Or all the ways to be loving and seducing in French - doesn't the English speaking world love that? The more we played on our "european:ness" the more we would sell...!
As long as you warn people that slang, however vulgar, can be offensive coming from non-French speakers--or even insulting. I had a francophone mother and eight years of French and have always been careful in France and Belgium to keep my French proper, unless it was someone I knew well, like an old friend in Brussels.
Yeah I'm not sure I'll go for slang. Maybe I'll make people discover some nice bits of writing in their original language. I was thinking of recording some pieces of poetry or some theatre monologues in French. But not sure if there's really an audience for this.
je suis bien d'accord. Quoi qu'il en soit, this might amuse you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FraJ_7A94aA
Yes, please!
To defecate a clock is fantastic! A slightly less polite version of the mountain out of a molehill, but much more fun.
Thanks Tom