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 “bête de somme” survives in its original form.
A “semaine des quatre jeudis” means “never,” “something impossible,” “something that will never happen.” Literally it means “a week with four Thursdays,” implying that Friday and therefore the weekend will never come. This expression is quite old, having been around since the end of the 15th century, when it was known as “la semaine à…
Meaning The primary meaning of the French verb “dessiner” is “to draw,” “to design,” “to map out,” “to outline,” “to depict” or even “to portray.” For example, “Il a su dessiner un tableau vivant de la scène.” Conjugation “Dessiner” is a regular “-er” verb, meaning it follows the typical conjugation patterns for this type of…
The French saying “trempé comme une soupe” means literally “soaked like a soup.” It means “soaked,” “wet” or “completely wet.” This is a very old idiom whose exact origins are unknown. It sounds like it is stating the obvious, since a soup is, by definition, wet. But “soupe” originally meant the slice of bread that…
The way to say “thank you” in French involves words like “merci,” “remerciements” and “remercier.” Most people are familiar with “merci,” but may not have heard of the other two words. Merci “Merci” is either an exclamation or a masculine noun meaning “thanks” or “thank you.” Remerciements “Les remerciements” (masculine plural) is a noun meaning…
How do you say “because” in French? Most learners are familiar with “parce que,” meaning “because.” “Parce que” is followed by a phrase containing a verb. That means you can’t use “parce que” to say something like “I won’t go to the beach, because of the rain.” The words “the rain” don’t contain a verb,…
Literally this expression means “occupy yourself with your onions.” But it translates into English as “Mind your own business.” It is sometimes abbreviated to “c’est pas tes oignons” or simply “pas tes oignons” (none of your business, or “not your onions”). One theory as to the origin of this expression comes from the word “l’oigne,” which…
