“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).
“Vogue la galère” means “what will be, will be,” “come what may,” or “whatever happens, happens.” Literally the expression means something like “let the galley sail.” But the word “voguer” (to sail) originally meant to be pushed over the water by strength of oars. Galleys were ships powered by oarsmen and were used from antiquity…
It is a common mistake to try to translate idiomatic expressions from English into French, word for word. The example of the English phrase “the writing is on the wall” shows us that this approach is often not effective. The English idiom “the writing is on the wall” originates from the Biblical story of Belshazzar’s…
Une bête de somme means a workhorse or a beast of burden. Back in the 12th century, “une somme” meant the load that a horse or a mule could carry. Then, in the 16th century, the term “bête de somme” arrived. These days, the more common word for burden is “un fardeau,” but the term…
The French word “la cuiller” means “the spoon.” It can also be spelled “la cuillère,” which is a spelling that more accurately reflects its pronunciation (KWEE YAIR). Both spellings are accepted in modern French. The spelling of “la cuillère” has recently become more popular, however, due to its more logical connection with standard French phonetics…
The French saying “laid comme un pou” translates literally as “(as) ugly as a louse.” It means “very ugly.” This idiom dates back to the end of the 18th century. Although there are plenty of other insects that are uglier than a louse, which is responsible for head lice infestations, the effects of this insect…
The French idiom “poisson d’avril” literally means “fish of April”, which sounds meaningless and nonsensical. But in fact it refers to the name of any April Fool’s Day joke or prank, carried out on the 1st April in any year. It was first used towards the end of the 17th century, because the word “poisson”…
