Here are 18 Delicious Food-Inspired French Idioms.
If you want to discover more, check out Everyday French Idioms.
c’est la fin des haricots
Before, “beans” were the last food remaining when everything else was gone. So when it was the “end of beans”, there was nothing left at all.
Literally: it’s the end of beans
Meaning: there is nothing left/it’s the end
Oh non, Facebook ne fonctionne pas, c’est la fin des haricots
Oh no, Facebook doesn’t work. It’s the end of the world
avoir du pain sur la planche
Literal translation: to have bread on the board
Meaning: to have a lot to do
Ce livre fait 300 pages, on a encore du pain sur la planche
This book has 300 pages, we still have a lot do
avoir la pêche
Literal translation: to have the peach
Meaning: to be full of energy
T’as la pêche aujourd’hui, ça fait plaisir
You are full of energy today, that’s nice to see
pleurer comme une madeleine
Literal translation: to cry like a Madeleine (Madeleine is a biblical character)
Meaning: to cry a lot
ça fait plus de trois heures qu’elle pleure comme une madeleine, je me demande quand elle va arrêter
She has been crying a lot for more than three hours, I wonder when she is going to stop
ramener sa fraise
When you “bring your strawberry”, it means you join a conversation without being invited to do so. It can also be used to ask someone to come.
Literal translation: to bring one’s strawberry
Meaning: to put one’s two cents in
Il ramène toujours sa fraise, c”est énervant
He always joins us without being invited, it’s irritating
ce n’est pas de la tarte
This idiom is a negative version of “to be a piece of cake”. You use it to say something is difficult.
Literal translation: it’s not tart
Meaning: it’s not going to be easy
Ce travail, c’est vraiment pas de la tarte
This work is really hard
changer de crémerie
When you change for another dairy shop, it means you decide to abandon the shop or provider you usually use and go to another one instead.
Literal translation: to change for another dairy shop
Meaning: to take one’s custom elsewhere
J’en avais marre de ce fromager, donc j’ai changé de crémerie
I was tired of this cheese maker, so I go to another one now
Despite the mention of “dairy” in the idiom, you can use this idiom to talk about all kind of shops and providers.
En faire tout un fromage
Cheese is vital for French people, so when you make a cheese about something, it means you take a small problem and treat it as if it was a huge problem.
Literal translation: to make a whole cheese about it
Meaning: to make a mountain out of a molehill/to make a fuss about something
J’ai perdu mes lunettes de soleil, j’espère qu’elle ne va pas en faire tout un fromage
I lost my sunglasses, I hope she won’t make a fuss about it
être dans les choux
This idiom is actually a play on words between “Les choux” and “échouer” (to fail).
Literal translation: to be in the cabbages
Meaning: to be in a bad situation/to fail
Alors ça a donné quoi ton entretien d’embauche? Oh, je suis dans les choux
So, how did your job interview go? Oh, it wasn’t a big success
haut comme trois pommes
Literal translation: as high as three apples
Meaning: small
J’ai vu le fil de Jean, il est haut comme trois pommes
I saw Jean’s son, he is very small
la moutarde lui monte au nez
Want to know where this idiom comes from? Take a big spoon of strong mustard and swallow it, you will know, you will also hate me, but that’s okay.
Literal translation: mustard is going up to his nose
Meaning: to get angry
Quand j’ai entendu ça, la moutarde m’est montée au nez
When I heard that, I got angry
casser du sucre sur le dos de quelqu’un
In France, we often say that “Les absents ont toujours tort”, which means that people who aren’t there are always wrong.
This French idiom means you are gossiping about someone who isn’t there.
Literal translation: to break sugar on someone’s back
Meaning: to gossip about someone who isn’t there
La pauvre, tout le monde casse du sucre sur son dos
Poor her; everyone is talking behind her back
mettre du piment dans sa vie
Literal translation: to put spice in one’s life
Meaning: to spice up one’s life
J’ai décidé de mettre du piment dans ma vie, je pars en Afrique demain
I decided to spice up my life, I go to Africa tomorrow
rouge comme une tomate
Tomatoes are red, so is the face of someone who is embarrassed or ashamed of something.
Literal translation: to be as red as a tomato
Meaning: to be embarrassed
Il est devenu rouge comme une tomate quand il a appris la nouvelle
He looked/became very embarrassed when he heard the news
mettre son grain de sel
“Mettre son grain de sel” is equivalent to “ramener sa fraise”. In both cases, it means you intrude someone’s business or conversation.
Literal translation: to put one’s grain of salt
Meaning: to stick one’s nose in
Faut vraiment que t’arrêtes de toujours mettre ton grain de sel
You need to stop always sticking your nose in
raconter des salades
Literal translation: to tell salads
Meaning: to lie
Tu ne devrais pas lui faire confiance, il raconte toujours des salades
You shouldn’t trust him, he always lies
tourner au vinaigre
When a situation “turns to vinegar”, it means it’s getting bad.
Literal translation: to turn to vinegar
Meaning: to go bad
ça va tourner au vinaigre si personne n’intervient
It will go bad/end bad if nobody intervenes
vouloir le beurre et l’argent du beurre
You can’t both eat the butter and sell it, that’s the meaning of this French proverb. But this proverb actually exists in a cruder version “vouloir le beurre, l’argent du beurre et…”.
Know what it is? Write your answer in the comment section below this article.
Literal translation: to want the butter and the money from the butter
Meaning: to have one’s cake and eat it too
Ils veulent une bonne assurance, mais ne veulent pas payer. Il faudrait leur dire qu’on ne peut pas avoir le beurre et l’argent du beurre.
They want a good insurance, but don’t want to pay for it. Someone should tell them they can’t have it all.
I find it funny that “La moutarde lui monte au nez” refers to an angry state, it always sounds to me like a cheerful, almost ridiculous expression!
I feel the same, For me it means someone is so angry it’s almost funny.
I’m afraid “pleurer comme une madeleine” has nothing to do with food… it refers to a biblical character 😉
http://www.expressio.fr/expressions/pleurer-comme-une-madeleine.php
Oh good to know :). Merci, I added the precision.
Vouloir le beurre, l’argent du beurre et baiser la crémière. Is that the one?
This one is even worse than the one I had in mind :D. I was thinking about the one Michael posted a few minutes ago.
J’ai entendu dire “le sourire de la crémière” mais aussi “le cul de la crémière” 😉
Bien joué :). Je vais t’envoyer une copie du livre par email.
Merci Benjamin!
PS – the website is brilliant!
Le sourire de la cremière!