The French saying “mettre de l’eau dans son vin” means literally “to put some water in one’s wine.” It means to be less ambitious, to moderate one’s claims or to moderate one’s demands.
It comes from the practice of moderating the intensity of wine by adding water to it.
The expression dates back at least to the middle of the 16th century.
Equivalent English expressions include “to eat humble pie,” “to lower one’s sights,” and “to tone it down.”
The French idiom “manger de la vache enragée” literally translates as “to eat of the enraged cow.” No, it doesn’t have anything to do with Mad Cow disease. In fact it means “to live in misery, to have a difficult material life, or to lead a life of deprivation.” The saying dates from the 17th century….
“dormir sur ses deux oreilles” is a French saying that means “to sleep deeply, to be perfectly tranquil, or to sleep without worry.” Surprisingly, there is no known source for this expression and no known origin. It seems to have appeared without anyone being able to track when it was first used or by whom….
The word “cloche” means “bell,” but in French slang, it means “head” or sometimes “idiot.” In the middle of the 19th century, this saying meant to get drunk. But by 1900, it had changed to its present meaning, which is to have a good meal, to banquet, to gorge oneself, to thoroughly enjoy (food &…
Negation is a key element of French grammar, typically formed with ne (or n’ before a vowel) and a second negative word. In everyday speech, ne is often dropped, making the second word the sole marker of negation. 1. Ne…pas (Not) The most basic negation, used to negate verbs. Standard Form: Informal (Without ne): 2….
“Faire la bombe” means to have a big feast or a big party with feasting. Nothing to do with bombs! So why does it literally mean “to make the bomb”? Because it is a deformation of the phrase “faire bombance,” which means “to have a feast.” So there is no connection with explosive devices at…
The French verb “vouloir” is a very important and frequently used verb. It means “to want.” It is often used with other verbs, eg “to want to do.” As such, it is described as an auxiliary verb, or helper verb, because it is useful when combined with other French verbs. Below are the conjugations for…
