190 - 10 Common French Idioms (Part 3)

In this lesson, you’ll learn 10 common French idioms. 🪴 You can listen to more idioms in episode 167 and 172. :)

📝 Cheat Sheet & Transcript: Click here to download the cheat sheet and transcript for this episode.

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Transcript

Bonjour à tous, hello everyone, welcome back to the French Made Easy podcast.

This is episode 190, numéro 190. Today, we’re continuing our series on French idioms — this is part 3!

If you haven’t yet listened to part 1, it’s episode 167 and part 2 is episode 172). Go listen to these episodes if you want more idioms. :)

Just a reminder: idioms are expressions that don’t make sense word-for-word. They are phrases with meanings that aren't obvious from the words themselves. For example, "break a leg" in English means "good luck," not literally breaking a leg.

Before we start, if you’re new here, welcome! Make sure you have your lesson’s cheat sheet ready so you can see the spelling of the words while you listen. They are no exercises for this particular episode. All the links can be found in the episode notes.

Alright, let’s get straight into it. We have 10 idioms to learn today, plus I’ll share some example sentences, so you can see how it’s used in context. Don’t forget to repeat after me if you want to practice your pronunciation.

1. Faire d’une pierre deux coups 🪨 (To achieve two things at once / To kill two birds with one stone)

Literal translation: To make two hits with one stone

Example: En allant à la bibliothèque, j’ai rendu mes livres et j’ai emprunté un nouveau roman. J’ai fait d’une pierre deux coups. (By going to the library, I returned my books and borrowed a new novel. I achieved two things at once.)

2. Avoir la main verte 🌱 (To be good at gardening / To have a green thumb)

Literal translation: To have the green hand

Example: Ma grand-mère a la main verte, toutes ses plantes poussent très vite. (My grandmother has a green thumb — all her plants grow quickly.)

3. Mettre la puce à l’oreille 🐜 (To make someone suspicious)

Literal translation: To put the flea in the ear

Example: Son comportement m’a mis la puce à l’oreille. (His behaviour made me suspicious.)

4. Jeter l’éponge 🧽 (To give up)

Literal translation: To throw the sponge Example: Après plusieurs tentatives, il a jeté l’éponge. (After several attempts, he gave up.)

5. Avoir un poil dans la main ✋ (To be lazy)

Literal translation: To have a hair in one’s hand

Example: Il ne veut jamais travailler, il a un poil dans la main. (He never wants to work — he’s lazy.)

6. Mettre les pieds dans le plat 🥘 (To say something embarrassing or awkward without meaning to / To put one’s foot in it)

Literal translation: To put the feet in the dish

Example: J’ai mis les pieds dans le plat en parlant du voyage… alors qu’il n’était pas invité. (I created an awkward moment by talking about the trip… when he wasn’t invited.)

7. Ne pas être sorti de l’auberge 🏨 (To still have many problems ahead / not be out of the woods yet)

Literal translation: To not be out of the inn

Example: Si on ne trouve pas de solution rapidement, on n’est pas sorti de l’auberge. (If we don’t find a solution rapidly, we’ll still have a lot of problems.)

8. Pleuvoir des cordes 🌧 (To rain heavily)

Literal translation: To rain ropes

Example: On ne peut pas sortir, il pleut des cordes. (We can’t go out — it’s raining heavily.)

9. Avoir la gueule de bois 🍺 (To have a hangover)

Literal translation: To have the wooden mouth

Example: Après la fête, j’avais la gueule de bois. (After the party, I had a hangover.)

10. Tourner autour du pot 🪴 (To avoid talking directly about something/ To beat around the bush)

Literal translation: To turn around the pot

Example: Arrête de tourner autour du pot et dis-moi la vérité. (Stop avoiding the subject and tell me the truth.)

Et voilà! That’s it for part 3 of our French idioms series. I hope you enjoyed it.

I’ll chat with you in the next episode. À bientôt, bye!