Vocabulary: Intruiging Idioms

One of the most exasperating things about learning a different language from your own is when you come across phrases that don't mean what they should mean: idioms. 

There are tons in English and we use them all the time. Here I've gathered some of my favourites from the French. 

Se mettre le doigt dans l'œil

Literally: to put your finger in your eye

Means: to be entirely mistaken

Equivalents: you're fooling yourself, your kidding yourself, you're delusional. 

Tenir la jambe à quelqu'un

Literally: to hold somebody's leg

Means: to bore someone with endless conversation

Equivalents: Hold someone up, pin someone down, keep someone cornered

Manger sur le pouce

Literally: to eat on the thumb

Means: to have a quick snack

Equivalents: grab a bite to eat, eat on the run

Partir ventre à terre

Literally: to leave belly to ground

Means: to leave rapidly

Equivalents: leave in a flash, race off, dash away

Faire l'âne pour avoir du son

Literally: to do the donkey to have some bran

Means: to play dumb

Avoir l'air d'une poule qui a trouvé un couteau

Literally: To seem like a hen that has found a knife

Means: to look baffled or puzzled

Jeter l'argent par les fênetres

Literally: to throw money through the windows

Means: to squander money aimlessly

Equivalents: throw your money out the window

Raser les murs

Literally: to shave the walls

Means: to be discreet

Equivalents: to keep a low profile

Faire le pont

Literally: to make the bridge

Means: to take a long weekend, to make it a long weekend

Ce n'est pas la mer à boire

Literally: it's not the sea to drink

Means: it's not so bad, it's not impossible

C'est la goutte d'eau qui fait déborder la vase

Literally: It's the drop of water that makes the vase overflow

Means: It's too much

Equivalents: It's the last straw, that's it

Prendre un bain de foule

Literally: to take a crowd bath

Means: to mingle with the crowd