Term
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Definition
for belittling
un avocaillon (small-town lawyer)
un curaillon (village priest)
un écrivaillon (hack writer) |
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Term
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Definition
for contempt
un banlieusard (suburbanite)
snobinard (snooty)
froussard (scaredy-cat)
un soulard/soiffard (lush, drunk, boozer) |
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| quaint, out-of-date, folksy |
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| une diapositive: a slide, transparency |
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| crocodile leather; un sac en croco (crocodile-skin bag) |
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un mélodrame; a dramatic scene
faire tout un mélo: to act up, to make a big scene |
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Definition
| un chronomètre; a stopwatch |
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| un(e) toxicomane; a drug addict |
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| les prévisions météorologiques; the weather forecast |
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| intellectuel(le); an intellectual |
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| rachitique=literally, suffering from rickets; skinny, scrawny |
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Definition
| propriétaire; landlord, lady |
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Definition
| reactionary; réactionnaire |
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Definition
| l'occasion; the opportunity |
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Definition
| publicité; advertising, the advertisement |
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Definition
| un travelot, travesti; transvestite, drag queen |
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Definition
| maquereau/maquerelle; a pimp or madam |
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| the general (army officer) |
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Definition
| Président-Directeur-Général: boss of a company |
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Term
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Definition
| bande dessinée: comic strip |
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Term
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Definition
| to be depressed, to be down in the dumps |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| il/elle est nul(le), c'est une nullité |
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Definition
| He/she is useless, stupid |
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Term
| S'en foutre de quart comme du tiers |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| on the verge of, as in "à deux doigts de la mort"=at death's door |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| se retrouver/tomber les quatre fers en l'air |
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Definition
| to fall flat on one's back |
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Term
| un de ces quatre (matins) |
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Definition
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Term
| tiré(e) à quatre épingles |
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Definition
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Term
| faire ses quatre volontés |
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Definition
| to do as one pleases, without taking others into account |
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Term
| ne pas y aller par quatre chemins |
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Definition
| to get straight to the point, not to beat around the bush |
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Term
| se plier en quatre pour quelqu'un |
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Definition
| to bend over backward for someone |
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Term
| couper les cheveux en quatre |
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Definition
| to split hairs, to nitpick |
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Term
| dire ses quatre vérités à quelqu'un |
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Definition
| to give someone a piece of one's mind |
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Term
| ne pas casser quatre pattes à un canard |
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Definition
| to be unexciting, not worth writing home about |
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| the impossible, unattainable |
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Term
| voir trente-six chandelles |
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Definition
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Term
| je m'en fous comme de l'an quarante |
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Definition
| I don't give a damn (literally, I don't care about it any more than I do the year 40) |
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Term
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Definition
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| s'emmerder à cent francs de l'heure |
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Definition
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| faire les quatre cents coups |
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Definition
| to get into lots of trouble, to lead a dissipated life |
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Term
| je te/vous le donne en mille |
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Definition
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Term
| faire passer un mauvais quart d'heure à qqn |
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Definition
| to give someone a rough time (literally, to make someone go through a rough fifteen minutes) |
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Term
| les trois quarts du temps |
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Definition
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Term
| un bouillon d'onze heures |
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Definition
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Term
| chercher midi à quatorze heures |
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Definition
| to complicate things unnecessarily |
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Term
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Definition
| to retire to the country (choux=cabbage) |
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Term
| entrer dans le chou de qqn |
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Definition
| to hit someone; to knock into, collide with someone |
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Term
| oreilles en feuille de chou |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| to be in trouble, to be in an awkward situation |
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Term
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Definition
| to fail completely, to draw a blank |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| sweetie ("mon chou" can be used for men or women) |
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Term
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Definition
| to be spineless, cowardly (lit. to have the blood of a turnip) |
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Term
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Definition
| it's all over, all's lost |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| avoir un coeur d'artichaut |
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Definition
| to be fickle, to fall in and out of love easily, to flirt with everyone one meets |
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Term
| Occupe-toi de tes oignons! |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| lined up in order of height |
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Term
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Definition
| the police van, the paddy wagon |
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Definition
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Term
| C'est la fin des haricots |
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Definition
| It's the last straw (haricots=beans) |
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Term
| en avoir gros sur la patate |
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Definition
| to have a heavy heart about something |
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Definition
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Definition
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| faire quelque chose pour des prunes |
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Definition
| to do something for nothing, for no reward or without result |
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Term
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Definition
| to meet halfway, to make equal concessions |
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Term
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Definition
| medals, decorations (military) |
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Term
| haut(e) comme trois pommes |
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Definition
| tiny (to describe a person) |
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Term
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Definition
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| Va te faire cuire un oeuf! |
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Definition
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Definition
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| a dumpy person (boudin=blood sausage) |
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Term
| ne pas les attacher avec des saucisses |
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Definition
| to be stingy (lit. not to tie one's dogs up with sausages; les->the dogs) |
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Term
| mettre du beurre sur les épinards |
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Definition
| to become financially more comfortable, as in "ça mettra du beurre sur les épinards" = that'll make life easier) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| to make a big deal out of nothing |
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Term
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Definition
| to stand up for one's financial interests |
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Term
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Definition
| to be thwarted, frustrated |
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Term
| casser du sucre sur le dos de qqn |
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Definition
| to say things behind someone's back, to badmouth someone |
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Term
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Definition
| salt-and-pepper hair (often used for a distinguished-looking hue) |
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Term
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Definition
| to interfere, stick one's two cents in |
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Term
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Definition
| spicy, risqué; dirty (of a story, of someone's actions or jokes, etc.) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| to go sour (a relationship, for ex) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| s'amener comme un cheveu sur la soupe |
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Definition
| to come along at an inopportune moment; to be irrelevant |
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Term
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Definition
| to have a short temper, to blow one's fuse easily |
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Term
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Definition
| outrageous, extraordinary (actions, stories) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| c'est du gateau, c'est de la tarte |
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Definition
| it's a cinch, it's easy, it's in the bag, it's a piece of cake |
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Term
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Definition
| silly, ridiculous (describing people or objects, not events) |
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Term
| avoir du pain sur la planche |
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Definition
| to have a lot of work ahead, to have a lot on one's plate |
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Term
| se vendre comme des petits pains |
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Definition
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Term
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Definition
| to cook up something (mischief, a plot, a deal, etc.) |
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Term
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Definition
| it's a cinch, it's in the bag |
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Term
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Definition
| it's a rehash, it's stale (jokes, arguments, ideas, etc.) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| Qu'est-ce que c'est que cette cuisine? |
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Definition
| what's all this monkey business? |
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Term
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Definition
| to hate (priests, politicians, the English, etc.) |
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Term
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Definition
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Term
| bouffer à tous les râteliers |
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Definition
| to scrounge, to be a sponger, to cash in on all sides ("râteliers"= dentures, lit. to eat from all dentures) |
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Term
| ne pas être dans son assiette |
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Definition
| to be out of sorts (lit. not to be in one's plate) |
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Term
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Definition
| to make a big production out of something |
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Term
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Definition
| to shake hands (lit. to shake each other's spoon; hands used to be the eating utensil) |
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Term
| être à ramasser à la petite cuiller |
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Definition
| lit. to be in such a state that one can be scooped up with a spoon; to be in a pathetic state, to be knocked out |
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Term
| ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuiller |
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Definition
| to act without restraint, to lay it on thick |
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Term
| il/elle n'a pas inventé le fil à couper le beurre |
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Definition
| he/she is not very bright |
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