Idioms & Figurative Language
Idioms & Figurative Language
Idioms resist word-for-word translation everywhere — French is no exception, and puzzling out avoir le cafard or poser un lapin from their literal words alone will lead you astray, so treat each one as a fixed image to learn whole, the same way you already do with English idioms like 'spill the beans' or 'once in a blue moon.'
Grammar Comparison
Grammar Comparison
Idioms are learned as whole units, not decoded word by word
avoir le cafard (literally 'to have the cockroach' = to feel down/blue)
to feel down / blue
Just as English idioms like 'kick the bucket' or 'under the weather' make no sense translated literally, French idioms carry a figurative meaning completely detached from their literal words. Trying to reverse-engineer the meaning from the individual words, the way you might for a compound noun, will actively mislead you here — idioms have to be memorized as fixed images, each with its own history, exactly the way you already treat English idioms without expecting them to be logical.
Vocabulary
Vocabulary
| French | Pronunciation | English |
|---|---|---|
| avoir le cafard | ah-VWAHR luh ka-FAR | to feel down / blue |
| poser un lapin à quelqu'un | poh-ZAY uhn la-PAN ah kel-KUHN | to stand someone up |
| coûter les yeux de la tête | koo-TAY lay zyuh duh lah TEHT | to cost a fortune / an arm and a leg |
| avoir un chat dans la gorge | ah-VWAHR uhn shah dahn lah GORZH | to have a frog in one's throat |
| casser les pieds à quelqu'un | ka-SAY lay pyay ah kel-KUHN | to annoy / bore someone |
| appeler un chat un chat | ah-play uhn shah uhn SHAH | to call a spade a spade |
| avoir la pêche | ah-VWAHR lah PESH | to feel great / full of energy |
| tomber dans les pommes | tohn-BAY dahn lay POM | to faint |
| il pleut des cordes | eel pluh day KORD | it's raining cats and dogs |
| mettre son grain de sel | MEH-truh sohn gran duh SEL | to put in one's two cents (unsolicited) |
| filer à l'anglaise | fee-LAY ah lahn-GLEZ | to leave without saying goodbye |
| être dans la lune | EH-truh dahn lah LEWN | to be daydreaming |