Expression USED Frequently BY Almost Everyone
(to have a hair in your hand) • Used to describe someone as lazy.
"Ce n’est pas un forcené du travail, il a un sacré poil dans la main."
"He is not a hard-worker, he has such a long hair in his hand."
Expression USED Frequently BY Almost Everyone
(to have a hair in your hand) • Used to describe someone as lazy.
"Ce n’est pas un forcené du travail, il a un sacré poil dans la main."
"He is not a hard-worker, he has such a long hair in his hand."
Expression USED On Occasion BY Older Generations
(to tell salads) • To tell lies.
"On ne sait jamais le vrai du faux, il raconte toujours des salades."
"You never know what right and what’s wrong, he’s always telling salads."
Expression USED Very frequently BY Almost Everyone
(to smoke like a fireman) • Used to imply that someone smokes a lot.
"Les Français ont la réputation de fumer comme des pompiers."
"French people are known to smoke like firemen."
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Expression USED On Occasion BY Almost Everyone
(see you later in the bus ) • It's a rhyme to say goodbye - à plus (see you) dans le bus (in the bus).
"Salut!" "À plus dans le bus!"
"Bye!" "See you later in the bus!"
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Idiom USED On Occasion BY Everybody
(knitting) • The action a cat does when it pulls its paws one after the other when it's happy and calm. Known in English as making biscuits
"Regarde le chat, il est trop mignon il tricote."
"Look at the cat, it's so cute it's making biscuits."
Submitted August 2020 by alex2208
Expression USED Frequently BY Parents and grandparents
(It's not Versailles in here) • Typically used by parents when their children leave a room but forget to turn off the light or if they use electricity in a wasteful way. Reference to the Palace of Versailles.
"Éteins la lumière quand tu sors de ta chambre, c'est pas Versailles ici!"
"Turn off the lights when go out of your room, we're not in Versailles here!"
Expression USED Frequently BY Everyone
(to sing in yoghurt) • When a person sings in a foreign language unknowingly or doesn’t know the lyrics and so it sounds like gibberish.
"Quand elle imite Beyoncé, elle chante en yaourt."
"When she imitates Beyoncé, she sings in yogurt."
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Name USED On Occasion BY People Under 40
(n.) • It is used to talk about a person on Internet who's dumb and immature. It is quite a masculine equivalent to a Karen in English.
"Les pires commentaires sur YouTube, c'est ceux des Kevin de 15 ans qui ne savent même pas écrire."
"The worst comments on YouTube are those by 15-year old Kevins who don't even know how to write."
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Expression USED On Occasion BY Older Generations
(to put down a rabbit) • To stand somebody up.
"Mon crush n’est jamais venu au rendez-vous que je lui avais donné, il m’a trop posé un lapin!"
"My crush never came to the appointment I gave him, he put me down such a rabbit!"
On ne fait pas d’un âne un cheval de course
Expression USED On Occasion BY Almost Everyone
(You do not make a racehorse out of a donkey) • You do not make a brilliant and clever person out of a stupid one.
"Tu te rends compte elle ne sais même pas qui est Barack Obama?" "En même temps on ne fait pas d’un âne un cheval de course!"
"Do you realize that she does not even know who Barack Obama is?" "Well, you do not make a racehorse out of a donkey."
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Quand les poules auront des dents
Expression USED Frequently BY Everyone
(When hens grow teeth) • Something that will never ever happen.
"J'espère gagner la lotterie!" "Oui, quand les poules auront des dents."
"I hope to win the lottery!" "Yeah, when hens grow teeth."
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Interjection USED Frequently BY Anybody
(roll, my hen) • A colloquial way to invite people to leave with you. Not that it means much but it is based on the rhyme in "oule". Can be a joking way to get someone to hurry up.
"Allez, roule ma poule!".
"Come on, let's go!"
il y a une couille dans le potage
Expression USED On Occasion BY Some People
(there is a testicle in the soup) • When something is unexplained or not normal. (We’ll never know if the problem is the only one testicle or the fact that’s in the soup).
"Ma voiture ne démarre pas - il y a une couille dans le potage."
"My car won't start - there's a testicle in the soup."
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Expression USED Frequently BY Almost Everyone
(to rain strings) • To rain heavily.
"Je ne sors pas aujourd'hui, il tombe des cordes."
"I am not going out today, it is raining strings."
Standard Phrase USED Frequently BY Everyone
(n.) • (Shit !) • Used to wish good luck to someone when we want to avoid the actual "good luck" expression since it is believed that saying it actually brings bad luck.
"Merde pour l'examen de demain !"
"Shit for tomorrow's exam!"
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Acronym USED Very frequently BY Young People
Acronym for "j'en peux plus", meaning "I can't take it anymore". Initially used in text messages but now frequently heard in speech, pronounced not as "j'en peux plus" but as each letter sounds in the French alphabet. Used whenever we are tired by or annoyed at something.
"Mon ex n'arrête pas de m'appeler, jpp !"
"My ex won't stop calling me, I can't take it anymore!"
La vie n’est pas un long fleuve tranquille
Expression USED On Very Rare Occasion BY Older Generations
(Life is not a long calm river) • To explain that life is not always easy.
"Tu sais, la vie n’est pas un long fleuve tranquille."
"You know, life isn't a long calm river."