Les origines des expressions

A whimsical illustration of a traditional French market scene, featuring various colorful fruits and vegetables, prominently displaying expressions like 'raconter des salades' with playful characters embodying the phrases and expressions.

Les Origines des Expressions: Testez vos Connaissances!

Plongez dans le monde fascinant des expressions françaises et découvrez leurs origines étonnantes! Ce quiz interactif vous mettra au défi de découvrir la signification et l'historique de célèbres expressions de la langue française.

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13 Questions3 MinutesCreated by ExploringWords42

Raconter des salades = talk rubbish, spin a yarn

Expression from the 19th century. A lie is seasoned like a salad to make it easier to swallow.

Expression from the 20th century. Salads are often full of slugs that are easy to swallow because they are slimy.

Expression from the 18th century. Salad sellers used to lie that no slugs could be found in their product in order to sell them more easily and more expensively.

Poser un lapin = to be stood up

19th century expression. The rabbit here refers to a payment that was promised but never made.

17th century expression. The rabbit was the symbol of spring and we used to say "poser un lapin" when the weather was not sunny.

19th century expression. The rabbit is an allusion to the stuffed animal that cannot be caught in the merry-go-round.

Tomber dans les pommes = to faint

Expression that comes from Normandy, where cider is made. Workers sometimes stumbled and fainted because of their hard work. They would fall down literally in the apples.

This expression comes from a deformation of the verb "pâmer". In the 19th century it was said to faint " tomber en pâmoisons ". But because of the poor access to education, the poor social class changed the idiom.

Avoir la main verte = to have a green thumb

This expression appeared in the middle of the 20th century. It was well known to be good at crafts and therefore to say that someone "a la main" means that they are good at it. To have a "green thumb" means that one is good at gardening.

In the 18th century, diseases were poorly treated and it was said that someone had a green thumb when a limb had to be amputated.

Se prendre un râteau = to get a knock back

A metaphor based on the funny image of someone who, in a garden, steps on the comb of a rake, which lifts him up and causes the handle of the tool to hit his face.

The word "rake" is actually derived from the verb "to miss" (râteau/rater) and the association was made as a joke in the 1990s.

Pleurer comme une madeleine = to burst into tears

This is due to the fact that when the madeleine is baked, it releases a lot of water and the cake is shaped like a tear.

The name comes from the Bible and more precisely from Mary Magdalene (Madeleine in french) who wept to wash away her sins.

Le marchand de sable est passé = the sandman is coming

It comes from the fact that we used to say "having sand in our eyes" to say that we were sleepy and that our eyes stung because of it.

A metaphor for a capitalist society where everything is traded, even sleep.

Comes from the children's book "The Sandman", published in the 18th century.

Avoir la patate ! = full of beans

The potato is a food that is used at almost every meal and is therefore very present. Someone with a potato is present and noticed.

Comes from the potato farmers who had to get up very early to work.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the potato, and therefore "la patate", was associated with the head and therefore "avoir la patate" meant "to have a good head".

Passer un savon = haul over the coals

In French schools, there was a punishment of throwing a block of soap at misbehaving pupils.

It originated in the laundries where the women would meet to wash clothes with soap while gossiping about the rest of the village.

The soap is here a metaphor for washing the mouth of someone who has been talking nonsense.

L’habit ne fait pas le moine = don’t judge a book by its cover

This proverb comes from a progressive deformation of the translation of the latin expression 'barba non facit philosophum' which meant 'the beard does not make the philosopher'.

Once they became monks, they put on their new clothes. The person's past was erased and they could start their life over again. So you couldn't really know who the monks were.

Avoir le cafard = have the blue

In the 16th century, the word “cafard” (cockroach) was used to describe a person who was not or only slightly religious and who pretended to be deeply religious. The word comes from the Arabic 'kafir' which means 'miscreant, renegade'.

Around the 15th century, it comes from the legend of the cockroach man. A man dressed all in black who spread misfortune and sadness to people who let him into their homes.

Cockroaches are pests that nobody wants to have in their homes. "To have the cockroach" means that one is unlucky.

Jeter l’argent par les fenêtres = to throw money down the drain

In the Middle Ages, when there was no sewage system, all sorts of things passed through the windows, from soiled liquids to coins to thank the troubadour.

A 20th century expression used to mock those who repaired windows damaged by the war even though it was not over.

Se faire rouler dans la farine = to get scammed

In the Middle Ages, people were thrown in flour as a punishment for stealing something. As access to water was scarce, the flour would remain in the hair and on the clothes for a long time, so it was known that the person had been caught.

Flour is actually the powder that comedians used to put on their make-up before performing. This made it impossible to recognize them and they could deceive people about their identity.

Les origines des expressions

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