“mettre les écureuils à pied” means “to cut down trees.” Literally it translates as “to put squirrels on foot,” meaning that if you cut down the trees that the squirrels live in, they will then be obliged to move around on foot, on the ground This saying is rarely used these days but dates back to the 19th century.
The French verb “toucher” has a few different meanings. Not all of them are obvious. It can mean “to touch,” “to hit,” “to affect,” “to be next to,” “to get,” “to receive,” or “to win.” “Le toucher” is also a masculine noun meaning “the touch” or “the sense of touch.” to touch to hit to…
“Faire en sorte que” is a versatile French expression that often challenges language learners because it doesn’t have a direct word-for-word translation in English. Literal Translation The expression breaks down as: So literally, it means “to make in such a way that” or “to do in such a manner that.” Figurative Translations In practical usage,…
The French saying “toucher le pactole” translates literally as “to earn the gold mine.” It means to earn or win a very large sum of money, or anything with a high value. It can also mean to win, or to become rich. The origin of this saying dates back to the ancient King Croesus, who…
“avoir du sang de navet” means literally “to have turnip blood.” It really means to lack vigor or courage. The inside of a turnip is white and its juice is also white. Red blood is strong, courageous blood. It gets its redness from the iron it contains. So to have white blood, like the inside of…
“Tout baigne” is a French saying that literally means “everything bathes.” This conjures up visions of a perfect summer beach setting, where some people lay in the sun and others splash about in the water. The meaning of the saying seems to confirm this, because it means “everything is going well, it’s happening for the best,…
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…