172 - 10 French Idioms (Part 2)

 
 

In this lesson, you’ll learn 10 common French idioms. 🐛 You can listen to more idioms in episode 167 :)

After the lesson, head over to the French Made Easy Exercise Library to practice!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Transcript

Hello everyone! Welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast.

Bonjour à tous, hello everyone, welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast. This is episode 172, numéro 172 Today, we’ll learn some more French idioms. If you missed it, check out part 1 in episode 167 for more idioms. 😊

Just a reminder that idioms don’t mean what the words say literally. It’s like saying "It's raining cats and dogs" in English. Idioms add a bit of spice to a language!

Before we start, as always, if you're new to the podcast, welcome! Please make sure you have your lesson's cheat sheet ready, so you can see the spelling of the words while you listen. No exercises for this particular episode.

Alright, let’s get straight into it, we have 10 idioms to learn, plus example sentences! Make sure you repeat after me so you can also practice your pronunciation.

Casser les pieds à quelqu’un 🦶 (To annoy someone)

Literal translation: To break someone’s feet

Example: Ses remarques cassent les pieds à tout le monde. (His comments annoy everyone.)

Poser un lapin 🐇 (To stand someone up)

Literal translation: To put down a rabbit

Example: Il m’a posé un lapin hier soir. (He stood me up last night.)

Coûter les yeux de la tête 👀 (To be very expensive)

Literal translation: To cost the eyes out of someone’s head

Example: Cette voiture coûte les yeux de la tête! (This car is very expensive!)

Avoir la pêche 🍑 (To be full of energy)

Literal translation: To have the peach

Example: J’ai bien dormi, donc j’ai la pêche aujourd’hui! (I slept well, so I'm full of energy today!)

Passer du coq à l'âne 🐓 (To jump from one topic to another)

Literal translation: To go from the rooster to the donkey

Example: Elle passe souvent du coq à l’âne. (She's always switching topics.)

Être au bout du rouleau 😩 (To be exhausted)

Literal translation: To be at the end of the roll

Example: C’était une longue journée, je suis au bout du rouleau. (It was a long day, I’m totally exhausted.)

En avoir ras le bol 🍲 (To be fed up)

Literal translation: To have it up to the bowl.

Example: On en a ras le bol du bruit constant. (We are fed up with the constant noise.)

Chercher la petite bête 🐞 (To nitpick)

Literal translation: To look for the little beast

Example: Arrête de toujours chercher la petite bête! (Stop always nitpicking!)

Être sur son 31 👗 (To be dressed up nicely)

Literal translation: To be on one's 31

Example: Pour le mariage de son amie, elle était sur son 31. (For her friend’s wedding, she was dressed up to the nines.)

Tirer les vers du nez 🐛 (To get someone to reveal a secret)

Literal translation: to pull worms from the nose.”

Example: J’ai dû lui tirer les vers du nez pour savoir ce qui s’était passé. (I had to get him to spill the beans about what happened.)

Quick recap:

  • Casser les pieds 🦶 (to annoy someone)

  • Poser un lapin 🐇 (to stand someone up)

  • Coûter les yeux de la tête 👀 (to be very expensive)

  • Avoir la pêche 🍑 (to be full of energy)

  • Passer du coq à l’âne 🐓 (to jump from one topic to another)

  • Être au bout du rouleau 😩 (to be exhausted)

  • En avoir ras le bol 🍲 (to be fed up)

  • Chercher la petite bête 🐞 (to nitpick)

  • Être sur son 31 👗 (to be dressed up nicely)

  • Tirer les vers du nez 🐛 (to get someone to reveal a secret)

Et voilà! That wraps up today’s episode on French idioms. There are so many idioms that I’m sure we’ll do a part 3 very soon! I hope you enjoyed today’s episode. I’ll chat with you next week! À bientôt. Bye.

Mathilde KienComment