Popular French Phrases - Dictionary

French idioms

Popular French Phrases - Dictionary

Discover in this section the origins and history of the most famous popular expressions. Reference to the friend of Jesus (Crying like a madeleine) the duration of construction of Notre Dame de Paris (hanging around 107 years), learn and have fun with our dictionary!

Some items to find (random selection)

Miss the boat (seventeenth century)

Today, miss the boat means a missed opportunity. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the "ticks" were transport river which starts and stops depended on schedules ...

Give her tongue to the cat (nineteenth century)

Give the cat language means giving up thinking, recognize his ignorance by stopping to look for a solution to a question. Formerly, it was said "throw the dog language." This ...

Hanging around 107 years (twelfth and nineteenth centuries)

Well you hurry so? I'm not hanging around 107 years! This expression of course means waiting a long time. But why do we use the number 107 and not 502 or 406 years? In fact, it ...

Cry like a madeleine (Antiquity)

Or rather like a Madeleine with an "m" capitalized. For it is not at all referring here to Proust's favorite cake, but the Bible. It tells the story of Mary, the city of ...

Being in trouble (Middle Ages)

"Getting in trouble" means being in a complicated situation. The "sheets" have long designated the "clothes". Formerly, it was said "to be in trouble white." This ...

Name:
Email:

Popular French Phrases - Dictionary

French idioms

Online magazine of history