French idioms, phrases, and other curiosities

A bite-sized guide to some of the best linguistic quirks, idioms and acronyms in French

avoir un chat dans la gorge – to have a frog in one’s throat (lit. ‘to have a cat in one’s throat’)
ne pas être dans son assiette – to not feel great (lit. ‘to not be in one’s plate’)
une gueule de bois – a hangover (lit. ‘a wooden mouth’)
faire la grasse matinée – to lie in (lit. ‘to make the fat morning’)
il pleut des cordes – it’s raining heavily (lit. ‘it’s raining ropes’)
couper les cheveux en quatre – to split hairs (lit. ‘to cut hair into four’)
le mouton à cinq pattes – the impossible / the unattainable (lit. ‘the five-legged sheep’)
les carottes sont cuites – it’s all over (lit. ‘the carrots are cooked’)
en faire tout un fromage – to make a big deal out of nothing (lit. ‘making a cheese out of it’)
la vache! – too bad! / bad luck! (lit. ‘the cow!’)
donner de la confiture au cochons – throwing pearls before swine (lit. ‘giving jam to the pigs’)
quand les poules auront des dents – when pigs might fly (lit. ‘when the hens have teeth’)
casse-pieds – pain in the neck (lit. ‘foot-breaker’)
joli comme un coeur – sweet / cute (lit. ‘as pretty as a heart’)
coûter les yeux de la tête – to cost an arm and a leg (lit. ‘to cost the eyes in the head’)
ça saute aux yeux – it’s obvious (lit. ‘it jumps into one’s eyes’)
avoir l’oeil Américain – to have a sharp eye (lit. ‘to have an American eye’)

France also has a penchant for shortening words to terms and acronyms – here is just a sample of some you might commonly come across: