One of the best ways to get a feel for how French speakers actually think is through their idiomatic expressions. Unlike vocabulary lists, idioms are a window into culture: they tell you what French speakers find funny, what they care about, and how they describe the world around them. The French have a particular fondness for food, animals, and the human body as raw material for figurative language, and once you start noticing these patterns, you will find them everywhere.
This post covers common French idiomatic expressions organized into four themes: food, animals, body parts, and everyday life situations. For each expression, you get the literal meaning, the actual meaning, and an example sentence so you can see how it works in context. If you are new to French idioms, you may want to start with our introduction to French idioms, which covers the core avoir expressions and everyday reaction phrases.
French Food Idioms
Food is central to French culture, so it should not be surprising that French has a rich vocabulary of food-based idioms. These expressions borrow from bread, cheese, soup, vegetables, and the rhythms of cooking and eating.
Avoir du pain sur la planche
Literal meaning: to have bread on the board
Actual meaning: to have a lot of work to do
On a du pain sur la planche avant la fin du trimestre. (“We have a lot on our plate before the end of the semester.”)
This expression maps almost directly onto the English “a lot on your plate,” which makes it easy to remember. It is widely used in both professional and everyday contexts.
Raconter des salades
Literal meaning: to tell salads
Actual meaning: to tell stories, to spin tall tales
Ne l’écoute pas; il raconte des salades depuis le début. (“Don’t listen to him; he’s been making things up from the start.”)
A salade in this context carries the sense of a mixture of things thrown together — like a salad. Someone who raconte des salades is mixing truth with invention, or simply making things up entirely.
Tomber dans les pommes
Literal meaning: to fall in the apples
Actual meaning: to faint
Il faisait tellement chaud qu’elle a failli tomber dans les pommes. (“It was so hot that she almost fainted.”)
The origin of this expression is debated, but it is well established in everyday speech. It is informal but completely standard — this is what people actually say when someone faints.
Avoir le beurre et l’argent du beurre
Literal meaning: to have the butter and the money from the butter
Actual meaning: to want to have your cake and eat it too
Tu ne peux pas avoir le beurre et l’argent du beurre. (“You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”)
This is one of the more direct French-English parallels on this list. The underlying idea is exactly the same: you cannot sell something and still keep it. It’s often extended in speech to avoir le beurre, l’argent du beurre, et le sourire de la crémière (“and the dairymaid’s smile too”) for comic effect.
En faire tout un fromage
Literal meaning: to make a whole cheese out of it
Actual meaning: to make a big deal out of nothing
C’est juste un petit retard. N’en fais pas tout un fromage. (“It’s just a small delay. Don’t make a big deal out of it.”)
Given that cheese is arguably France’s most serious culinary pursuit, the logic here is: if you are treating something trivial with the gravity of a cheese-making enterprise, you are clearly overreacting.
Revenons à nos moutons
Literal meaning: let’s return to our sheep
Actual meaning: let’s get back to the subject
Bon, revenons à nos moutons. Où est-ce qu’on en était ? (“Okay, let’s get back on track. Where were we?”)
This expression comes from a 15th-century French farce and has been in continuous use ever since. It is the standard way to redirect a conversation that has wandered off-topic.
French Animal Idioms
Animals appear frequently in French idiomatic expressions, often in ways that have nothing to do with the animal itself. The following expressions are all common and worth knowing.
Poser un lapin à quelqu’un
Literal meaning: to place a rabbit on someone
Actual meaning: to stand someone up
Elle m’a posé un lapin — j’ai attendu une heure devant le restaurant. (“She stood me up — I waited an hour in front of the restaurant.”)
This is one of the first expressions learners encounter because it comes up constantly in conversations about plans that fell through. It applies to any appointment — not just dates.
Avoir le cafard
Literal meaning: to have the cockroach
Actual meaning: to feel down, to be in low spirits
Je sais pas pourquoi, mais j’ai le cafard depuis quelques jours. (“I don’t know why, but I’ve been feeling low for a few days.”)
This is the standard expression for a mild, lingering sadness. The cockroach imagery is thought to relate to the unpleasant, persistent quality of the feeling.
Donner sa langue au chat
Literal meaning: to give your tongue to the cat
Actual meaning: to give up guessing
Je donne ma langue au chat… je n’arrive vraiment pas à trouver. (“I give up… I really can’t figure it out.”)
Said when someone has been trying to guess the answer to a riddle or a question and cannot get it. It is the conversational equivalent of “I give up, tell me.”
Quand les poules auront des dents
Literal meaning: when hens will have teeth
Actual meaning: when pigs fly (never)
Il va ranger sa chambre ? Quand les poules auront des dents. (“He’s going to clean his room? When pigs fly.”)
The French equivalent of “when pigs fly” replaces the flying pig with a hen growing teeth: equally impossible, and probably even more vivid an image.
Il pleut des cordes
Literal meaning: it is raining ropes
Actual meaning: it is raining cats and dogs
Prends un imperméable! Il pleut des cordes depuis ce matin. (“Take a raincoat! It’s been pouring since this morning.”)
The French image here is of rain falling in thick, rope-like columns rather than individual drops. It is the direct equivalent of the English “raining cats and dogs.”
French Body Part Idioms
The human body provides a surprisingly large number of French idiomatic expressions. Arms, feet, eyes, and hands all make appearances in expressions that have drifted far from their literal meanings.
Coûter les yeux de la tête
Literal meaning: to cost the eyes from one’s head
Actual meaning: to cost a fortune
Ce restaurant est délicieux, mais ça coûte les yeux de la tête. (“That restaurant is delicious, but it costs a fortune.”)
The equivalent of the English “costs an arm and a leg. “The French version just happens to involve one’s eyes instead. Both convey that the price is outrageously, almost absurdly high.
Casser les pieds à quelqu’un
Literal meaning: to break someone’s feet
Actual meaning: to bore or annoy someone intensely
Arrête de casser les pieds à tout le monde avec tes questions sans fin. (“Stop annoying everyone with your endless questions.”)
This expression sits somewhere between “boring someone to tears” and “driving someone crazy.” It is quite informal but very common in everyday speech.
Avoir le bras long
Literal meaning: to have a long arm
Actual meaning: to have connections, to have influence
Il a le bras long dans ce secteur; il connaît tout le monde. (“He has a lot of connections in this industry; he knows everyone.”)
A “long arm” in French describes someone who can reach into situations and pull strings. It parallels the English expression “a long reach.”
Mon œil !
Literal meaning: my eye!
Actual meaning: yeah right, I don’t believe you
Je n’ai pas touché à tes affaires. (“I didn’t touch your stuff.”)
Mon œil ! (“Yeah, right!”)
Delivered with skepticism, this is the equivalent of “my eye!” in old-fashioned English or “yeah, sure” in modern speech. It expresses disbelief, often with a touch of humor.
Garder la tête hors de l’eau
Literal meaning: to keep one’s head above water
Actual meaning: to keep one’s head above water
Avec tous ces projets en parallèle, j’ai du mal à garder la tête hors de l’eau. (“With all these parallel projects, I’m struggling to keep my head above water.”)
This is one of the cleaner French-English parallels: the image and the meaning are essentially identical. It describes the effort of managing just enough to stay afloat, such as financially, professionally, or emotionally.
Everyday Life Idioms
The following expressions come up in daily conversation, at work, and when navigating situations that happen to everyone. They cover being busy, giving up, certainty, and the passage of time.
Être en train de + infinitive
Literal meaning: to be in the act of
Actual meaning: to be in the middle of doing something
Je ne peux pas parler maintenant; je suis en train de préparer le dîner. (“I can’t talk right now; I’m in the middle of making dinner.”)
This is one of the most useful constructions in everyday French. It describes an action currently in progress, similar to the English present continuous tense (which doesn’t exist in French; the French present tense captures both “I run” (for example), and “I am running”. Être en train de + infinitive is the clearest way to specify that you are actively doing something right now.
Être sur le point de + infinitive
Literal meaning: to be on the verge of
Actual meaning: to be about to do something
J’étais sur le point de partir quand il a appelé. (“I was just about to leave when he called.”)
The pair of être en train de (currently doing) and être sur le point de (about to do) covers two of the most common time-relative situations in conversation, and both are worth making automatic.
Avoir beau + infinitive
Literal meaning: to have in vain (roughly)
Actual meaning: to do something in vain, no matter how much one tries
Il a beau insister, elle ne changera pas d’avis. (“No matter how much he insists, she won’t change her mind.”)
This construction is one that English speakers frequently find puzzling. Avoir beau followed by an infinitive expresses that an action is futile, that regardless of effort, the result stays the same. Note that beau here is invariable: it does not change for gender or number.
Avoir lieu
Literal meaning: to have place
Actual meaning: to take place, to occur
La réunion aura lieu vendredi matin à neuf heures. (“The meeting will take place Friday morning at nine.”)
Used for scheduled events, ceremonies, and anything that “takes place” at a particular time. This is a high-frequency expression in both written and spoken French.
Se rendre compte de
Literal meaning: to render an account of (to oneself)
Actual meaning: to realize, to become aware of
Je me suis rendu compte que j’avais oublié mes clés seulement en arrivant devant la porte. (“I only realized I had forgotten my keys when I got to the door.”)
This is the standard verb phrase for “to realize” in French. It is a pronominal construction, so it requires a reflexive pronoun that agrees with the subject: je me rends compte, tu te rends compte, il/elle se rend compte, and so on.
Faire semblant de
Literal meaning: to make similar, to simulate
Actual meaning: to pretend
Il faisait semblant de dormir, mais il entendait tout. (“He was pretending to sleep, but he heard everything.”)
Faire semblant de is the French equivalent of “to pretend to” and is followed by an infinitive. It works in any context where someone is acting a part rather than expressing a genuine state.
A Quick Reference Table of French Idioms
Here is a summary of all the expressions covered in this post:
| French expression | Literal meaning | Actual meaning |
|---|---|---|
| avoir du pain sur la planche | to have bread on the board | to have a lot of work to do |
| raconter des salades | to tell salads | to spin tall tales |
| tomber dans les pommes | to fall in the apples | to faint |
| avoir le beurre et l’argent du beurre | to have the butter and the money from the butter | to want to have your cake and eat it too |
| en faire tout un fromage | to make a whole cheese out of it | to make a big deal out of nothing |
| revenons à nos moutons | let’s return to our sheep | let’s get back to the subject |
| poser un lapin à quelqu’un | to place a rabbit on someone | to stand someone up |
| avoir le cafard | to have the cockroach | to feel down |
| donner sa langue au chat | to give your tongue to the cat | to give up guessing |
| quand les poules auront des dents | when hens will have teeth | when pigs fly |
| il pleut des cordes | it is raining ropes | it is raining cats and dogs |
| coûter les yeux de la tête | to cost the eyes from one’s head | to cost a fortune |
| casser les pieds à quelqu’un | to break someone’s feet | to bore or annoy someone |
| avoir le bras long | to have a long arm | to have connections |
| mon œil ! | my eye! | yeah right, I don’t believe you |
| garder la tête hors de l’eau | to keep one’s head above water | to keep one’s head above water |
| être en train de + inf. | to be in the act of | to be in the middle of doing |
| être sur le point de + inf. | to be on the verge of | to be about to do |
| avoir beau + inf. | to do in vain | no matter how much one tries |
| avoir lieu | to have place | to take place |
| se rendre compte de | to render an account of | to realize |
| faire semblant de | to make similar, to simulate | to pretend |
Next Steps
Learning idioms from a list is the first step. The second step is hearing and using them in context, which is where they actually start to stick. If you are working on building vocabulary alongside these expressions, our post on French idioms and common expressions covers the core avoir physical state expressions and reaction phrases that come up in everyday conversation. For the grammar behind some of the constructions above, particularly être en train de and the pronominal verbs, the guide to the four core French verbs is a good reference.
The most effective way to move from recognition to fluency with expressions like these is through real conversation with native speakers. A platform like italki lets you book sessions with native French tutors who will use these phrases naturally and will immediately understand you when you use them back.
