-
Learning French: how native speakers really talk to each other
Nick Inman explores the intriguing divide between formal and informal French, and how mastering both can enhance your cultural fluency
-
Learning French: can you pronounce these 12 challenging words?
From squirrel to kettle, these are words you might use on a daily basis
-
Learning French: tohu-bohu and more ways of expressing chaos
You might hear these terms being used to describe France’s ongoing political turmoil
Sécher les cours: A French expression you may hear today
Today marks ‘la rentrée’ in France with over 12 million children returning to school. Here are three school-related French expressions you might hear - but hopefully not!

The expression sécher les cours literally translates as ‘to dry classes’ and means to not attend lessons, to skive school.
It is said to date back to when inkwells were embedded into school tables and so when pupils did not attend class, the ink would be unused and ‘dry up’, inspiring the expression.
Another expression to mean playing truant or bunking off is toaller à l'école bussionnière, which translates literally as ‘to go to school in a bush’ It has its origins in the sixteenth century when Lutheran priests had difficulty preaching in public due to Catholic opposition and resorted to building clandestine schools in surrounding forests and fields to share their teachings. So if you were there you were not in your (usual) school.
Equally, the expression faire le mur - ‘to make or do the wall’ - means to leave a place without permission and is often, although not exclusively, used in the context of playing truant, especially with boarding schools and sneaking out at night. It is an evolution of the much older expression sauter le mur, meaning ‘to jump the wall’. The phrase is also used when speaking of prison escapes or soldiers leaving their barracks against orders.
Related articles
C’est la sardine qui a bouché le port de Marseille: A French expression you may hear today
Dans le vent: A French expression you may hear today
Tous azimuts: A French expression you may hear today
Prendre ses jambes à son cou: A French expression you may hear today