The French expression “tomber des nues” translates literally as “to fall from the clouds.” “Les nues” is a feminine plural noun meaning “the clouds” or “the heavens.” It is not used these days, except in a literary sense. The modern word for clouds is “les nuages” and for heavens it is “le ciel” or “le paradis.”

“Tomber des nues” means “to be surprised,” “to be amazed,” “to arrive unexpectedly” or “to be taken aback by an unexpected event.” It refers to the feeling of a hypothetical person living in the clouds, who suddenly falls to earth. Everything would be very different from life in the clouds, and the person would be very surprised.