“Tomber des cordes” is a French expression that means “to be raining cats and dogs” or to rain very heavily. Literally, it means “to fall some ropes.” The saying dates back to the end of the 17th century. This idiom has variants such as “pleuvoir des cordes” (to rain ropes) and “tomber des hallebardes” (to rain halberds, which are a type of medieval and Renaissance pole weapon).
The French idiom “prendre la clé des champs” translates literally as “to take the key of the fields.” It means “to escape,” “to flee,” “to liberate yourself,” “to leave,” or “to save.” “Le champ” means “the field” in French. But “les champs” means not only “the fields” but also “free space.” So the key in…
“c’est fort de café !” means “it’s over the top!” or simply “it’s too much!”. This idiom is a way of saying something is excessive or exaggerated. It translates literally as “it’s strong of coffee” (or “this coffee is strong!”) and comes from a 17th century expression “c’est trop fort,” meaning literally “it’s too strong,”…
“En catimini” is a French expression that means furtively, stealthily, on the sly or discreetly. It dates back to the second half of the 14th century. The word “catimini” is often linked to the Greek word “katamenia” which means menstruation. The idea being that women of the era kept their menstrual status largely to themselves….
“Le jeu n’en vaut pas la chandelle” is a French saying that means “it isn’t worth it.” Literally it means “the game isn’t worth the candle.” Equivalent English expressions include “it isn’t worth breaking your neck over” and even (in the UK) “the game isn’t worth the candle.” This idiom dates back to the 16th…
“Tenir le bon bout” is a French idiom that literally means “to hold the right end.” It means to be on the point of success, to be in the middle of succeeding in a process, to have the advantage, to be about to succeed in a mission, to reach the end of a project or…
“gagner ses éperons” is a French saying meaning “to gain one’s spurs.” It means to get a promotion, to rise in rank, or to accede to a higher social status. Similar English expressions include “to earn one’s stripes” or “to win one’s spurs.” The French idiom only appeared in the 19th century, but makes a…