English idioms and their French equivalents

An idiom almost never translates word for word. Here is the real French version of each, what it means, and the literal translation to avoid.

153 entries

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a fat lot of good that does me
a piece of cakesimple comme bonjour
as old as the hills
as the crow fliesà vol d'oiseau
at the drop of a hat
don't push your luck
donkey's years ago
for peanuts
hands downles doigts dans le nez
has the cat got your tongue?
in the nick of time
it was a close shave
it's a load of baloney
it's curtainsc'est la fin des haricots
it's like pulling teeth
it's none of your beeswaxce ne sont pas tes oignons
it's raining cats and dogsil pleut des cordes
it's six of one and half a dozen of the other
it's the bee's knees
knee-high to a grasshopperhaut comme trois pommes
like a bull in a china shop
not to be out of the woods yetne pas être sorti de l'auberge
not to see the wood for the treesavoir la tête dans le guidon
nothing to write home aboutça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard
once in a blue moontous les trente-six du mois
right on cue
speak of the devil
that takes the biscuit
that's a different kettle of fish
the game is up
the last straw
there's something fishy going onil y a anguille sous roche
there's trouble brewing
till the cows come homeà la Saint-Glinglin
to be a scaredy-catêtre une poule mouillée
to be a smash hit
to be a thorn in one's side
to be at the end of one's tetherêtre au bout du rouleau
to be barking up the wrong tree
to be bone idleavoir un poil dans la main
to be caught red-handed
to be dead on one's feet
to be down in the dumpsavoir le moral dans les chaussettes
to be dressed to the nines
to be flat broke
to be full of beansavoir la pêche
to be in hot water
to be knocked for six
to be left kicking one's heels
to be like two peas in a pod
to be miles awayêtre dans la lune
to be on a roll
to be on cloud nine
to be on tenterhooks
to be out of the running
to be scared stiff
to be so hungry one could eat a horse
to be tight-fisted
to be too big for one's bootsavoir le melon
to be way off the markse mettre le doigt dans l'œil
to beat around the bushtourner autour du pot
to bend over backwards
to bet one's life on it
to blow one's own trumpet
to buy a pig in a poke
to call a spade a spadeappeler un chat un chat
to call the shots
to come a cropper
to cost an arm and a legcoûter les yeux de la tête
to count one's chickens before they hatch
to cry one's eyes outpleurer comme une Madeleine
to draw a blankfaire chou blanc
to drink like a fishboire comme un trou
to drive someone up the wall
to fall head over heelsavoir le coup de foudre
to feel blue
to feel peckish
to feel under the weatherne pas être dans son assiette
to fizzle out
to fly off the handle
to get cold feetse dégonfler
to get on like a house on fire
to get one's skates onmettre les bouchées doubles
to get out of bed on the wrong side
to get the humpprendre la mouche
to get the sack
to give a hollow laugh
to give someone a piece of one's mindpasser un savon à quelqu'un
to give someone the cold shoulder
to go bust
to grab a bite
to grin and bear itfaire contre mauvaise fortune bon cœur
to have a frog in one's throatavoir un chat dans la gorge
to have a lie-infaire la grasse matinée
to have a lot on one's plate
to have a screw loose
to have a short fuse
to have a whale of a time
to have bigger fish to fryavoir d'autres chats à fouetter
to have friends in high places
to have goosebumpsavoir la chair de poule
to have had it up to hereen avoir ras le bol
to have one's head screwed on
to have pins and needlesavoir des fourmis dans les jambes
to hit a snagtomber sur un os
to hit the nail on the headmettre dans le mille
to jump on the bandwagon
to keel overtomber dans les pommes
to keep one's nose clean
to kick the bucket
to kill two birds with one stonefaire d'une pierre deux coups
to knock someone's socks offen boucher un coin à quelqu'un
to lap it upboire du petit lait
to lay it on thick
to let sleeping dogs lie
to make a mountain out of a molehill
to make heavy weather of something
to make tracks
to pick holes in somethingchercher la petite bête
to pitch in
to play gooseberry
to play it by ear
to play truantfaire l'école buissonnière
to promise the earth
to pull a long facefaire grise mine
to pull someone's legfaire marcher quelqu'un
to pull the wool over someone's eyesrouler quelqu'un dans la farine
to put a damper on
to put one's foot in it
to put one's oar inmettre son grain de sel
to put the cart before the horse
to rack one's brains
to ring a bell
to rob Peter to pay Paul
to set alarm bells ringingmettre la puce à l'oreille
to set the record straight
to sit on the fence
to sleep like a logdormir comme un loir
to sleep on it
to spend money like waterjeter l'argent par les fenêtres
to spill the beansvendre la mèche
to spin a yarnraconter des salades
to spin one's wheels
to split hairs
to stand someone upposer un lapin
to stare into space
to take something with a pinch of salt
to take to one's heelsprendre ses jambes à son cou
to throw in the towel
to turn one's nose up at something
to want to have one's cake and eat it
to worm something out of someonetirer les vers du nez à quelqu'un
when pigs flyquand les poules auront des dents

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English idioms and their French equivalents