{"id":79274,"date":"2023-07-04T12:22:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-04T10:22:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ccfs-sorbonne.fr\/?p=79274"},"modified":"2023-12-07T09:42:30","modified_gmt":"2023-12-07T08:42:30","slug":"5-examples-of-french-idiomatic-expressions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ccfs-sorbonne.fr\/en\/5-examples-of-french-idiomatic-expressions\/","title":{"rendered":"5 lesser-known and\/or funny French idiomatic expressions"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>What is an idiomatic expression?<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">An idiomatic <a href=\"\/?p=3219\">expression<\/a> is made up of several words which, together, have figurative or colorful meaning to describe a given situation. These groups of words are specific to a given language \u2013 \u00a0they could consist in grammatical constructions or metaphors \u2013 \u00a0and therefore cannot be literally translated into another language.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Ex: The French idiomatic expression :\u00a0 \u00ab il pleut des cordes \u00bb is translated in English to \u00ab it\u2019s raining cats and dogs \u00bb.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Poser un lapin<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">If this expression is well known to French speakers around the world, it is not always the case among foreigners, although it can be particularly useful for professionals or students. The expression \u201cposer un lapin\u201d literally translates to \u201cput a rabbit\u201d and means \u201cto stand someone up\u201d.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This particular expression transcends generations and remains frequently used nowadays.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Il ne faut pas pousser m\u00e9m\u00e9 dans les orties<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This expression is still frequently used by young people and is very surprising to non-French speaking foreigners on their first trip to France. This idiomatic expression can be translated to \u201cDon\u2019t push Granny into the nettles!\u201d which simply means \u201cdon\u2019t push it\u201d. The initial expression goes back to the early 20th\u00a0 when people just used to say \u201c il ne faut pas pousser, &#8221; let\u2019s not push it&#8221; (or simply &#8220;don\u2019t push it&#8221;). The rest of the sentence was therefore added later on to give the expression a strong comic (and little irreverent) side.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>To get a rake <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The expression \u201cposer un rateau\u201d is one of those you might have to cope with if you\u2019re a young student (unfortunately, but life goes on!) : literally translated as &#8220;to get a rake&#8221;, it means to be rejected in an attempt (to seduce someone).<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">The English equivalent would therefore be \u201cGet knocked back, be shot down in flames&#8221;.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>Faire gaffe<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">This other idiomatic expression is undoubtedly one of the most commonly used by French people, while it remains unknown to foreigners while on their first language stay. Its meaning is indeed confusing if literally translated in English, since we then get something like \u201cto make mistake\u201d. Used to warn someone of a potential danger, the English equivalent to this expression is in fact \u201c be careful\u201d.<\/p>\n<h2 style=\"text-align: left;\"><strong>\u00eatre sur son 31 <\/strong><\/h2>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">Here is another idiomatic expression you are likely to hear as a student if you go to a party or a college gala. \u201cSe mettre sur son 31\u201d literally translates to \u00ab\u00a0to be on one\u2019s 31\u00a0\u00bb, meaning you are wearing nice clothes and outfits.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">So, if at some point during your student life you\u00a0 hear someone say\u00a0 \u00ab tu es sur ton 31 \u00bb, just know that this person means \u00ab you re all dressed up ! \u00bb.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What is an idiomatic expression? An idiomatic expression is made up of several words which, together, have figurative or colorful meaning to describe a given situation. These groups of words [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":89599,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79274","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-tips"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>5 examples of French idiomatic expressions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Many common French idiomatic expressions may sound strange to a non-francophone ; here is 5 examples you might want to know before your first stay in France (if you don\u2019t want to look lost when hearing them!)\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ccfs-sorbonne.fr\/en\/5-examples-of-french-idiomatic-expressions\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"5 examples of French idiomatic expressions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Many common French idiomatic expressions may sound strange to a non-francophone ; 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