French language is full of idioms that seem to be coming from nowhere. Indeed, we do love to embellish our way of speaking! Below is the origin of some common idioms:<\/p>\n
\u201cTo fall into the apples\u201d<\/strong><\/span> means to faint. This idiom is believed to be invented by George Sand, a contemporary writer who used to write \u201cI\u2019m in the cooked apples\u201d when she was feeling very tired.<\/p>\n \u201cTo roll someone into the flour\u201d<\/span><\/strong> means to cheat someone, to lie to somebody. This expression was created during the nineteenth century, when actors were using flour as a make up on their face. The word \u201cflour\u201d was often used to describe a sneaky or distrustful speech.<\/p>\n \u201cTo tell salads\u201d<\/span><\/strong> means to lie, to make up stories. The lie is perceived as a mixture of many different ingredients that we swallow easily, like a salad.<\/p>\n \u201cTo set up a rabbit\u201d<\/strong><\/span> means to have someone waiting forever at an appointment with you which you never show up to. This goes back to a tradition where the owner of a merry-go-round would hold a rabbit (usually a puppet) on a cord or stick over the children\u2019s heads at fun fairs for them to catch. The first child to catch it would win a free ride! This seemed easy to do, but due to the owner making it very difficult you would rarely win the prize\u2026but it was a lot of fun (unlike being stood up).<\/p>\n \u201cTo smoke as a fireman\u201d<\/span><\/strong> means to smoke a lot of tobacco. The origin of this idiom is from the time fireproof clothing was not in existence. During this time the firemen, geared in regular cotton, had to soak their clothing with water before entering a burning building. Once inside, the water would turn in to steam, which would produce a huge amount of smoke when the fireman was would return outside.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking a full cheese out of it”<\/strong><\/span> means a much-ado-about-nothing. It means making something that is not that difficult an extremely big deal. It\u2019s supposed to be comparable to taking a raw ingredient like milk and transforming it into something that is much more elaborate, such as cheese.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" French language is full of idioms that seem to be coming from nowhere. Indeed, we do love to embellish our way of speaking! Below is the origin of some common idioms: \u201cTo fall into the apples\u201d means to faint. This idiom is believed to be invented by George Sand, a contemporary writer who used to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9051,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[36,47,59,67],"tags":[291,336,340,369,378,459,599],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/032118-idioms.jpg?fit=2000%2C1038&ssl=1","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8kt18-AD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":2619,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture-en\/french-of-france-v-french-of-quebec\/","url_meta":{"origin":2271,"position":0},"title":"French of France V. French of Quebec","date":"October 10, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Our French-speaking cousins overseas definitely speak French, but their French is a little bit different which includes its own unique idioms. Before we speak about grammar or about the language itself, you will see the first big difference, or better yet hear it. Listen closely to Celine Dion speaking French,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Culture"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/101018-frenchquebec.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9822,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/interactive\/reimagine-summer-2020-join-us-in-a-multicultural-challenge\/","url_meta":{"origin":2271,"position":1},"title":"Reimagine Summer 2020: Join Us in a Multicultural Challenge","date":"June 11, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Summer 2020 is shaping up to be one for the history books. Exciting travel adventures, much-anticipated family reunions, and months of being carefree are being replaced with a slow emersion from sheltering in place and ample confusion about how to do so safely. With most states are at the beginning\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Interactive"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/reimagine-summer-3.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2901,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-language\/pardon-my-french\/","url_meta":{"origin":2271,"position":2},"title":"Pardon my French!","date":"January 16, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"At school, in group classes or private lessons, we learn proper French, the French of\u00a0Moli\u00e8re\u00a0and\u00a0Victor Hugo. But the French people don't always speak such a romantic French. If you plan on spending time with locals during your next vacation in Paris or on the French Riviera, maybe you will need\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French Language"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/011519-slang.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":8768,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/french-culture-en\/how-to-speak-french-like-a-french-person\/","url_meta":{"origin":2271,"position":3},"title":"How to speak French like a French person","date":"September 4, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The vocabulary and sayings that we are going to see here are to be used in a social context, with friends or family. When you are in a professional setting, we advise you to stay with your scholarly French and avoid any \"slang\" or improper language techniques. Speaking a language\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "French classes"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/09\/092419-speakfrench.jpg?fit=1200%2C623&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2370,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/arts-media\/do-you-know-that-many-objects-are-named-after-their-inventor\/","url_meta":{"origin":2271,"position":4},"title":"Do you know that many objects are named after their inventor? – Part 1","date":"April 26, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Here the two fold story of the French nouns that were originally the last name of the person who invented them: Part 1: \u201cUn Amphitryon\u201d can be used in a very formal language as \u201ca host who receives guests for diner\u201d. This name became popular after the success of a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arts & Media"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/part1-1.jpg?fit=688%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2394,"url":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/arts-media\/do-you-know-that-many-objects-are-named-after-their-inventor-part-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":2271,"position":5},"title":"Do you know that many objects are named after their inventor? \u2013 Part 2","date":"May 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Here's the story of French nouns that were originally the last name of the person who invented them: Part 2: \u201c La Guillotine\u201d is a machine designed to chop the head. It was invented by Doctor Joseph Guillotin to shorten the agony of the people sentenced to the death penalty.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Arts & Media"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/part2.jpg?fit=688%2C350&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2271"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9052,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2271\/revisions\/9052"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2271"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2271"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/frenchlanguagesalon.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2271"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}