French expressions that make no sense in English!

French is full of fun idiomatic expressions, many of which can be tricky to grasp. In this article, you’ll discover six French expressions that simply don’t make sense in English!

         👃 Les doigts dans le nez

The first one is ‘’Les doigts dans le nez’’, which is translated as ‘’Fingers in the nose’’.

Meaning: Very easily.

Example:

‘’Je peux le faire les doigts dans le nez’’ = ‘’I can do it very easily’’

OR

 ‘’Les doigts dans le nez!!’’ =  ‘’A piece of cake!!’’

         👵 Faut pas pousser mémé dans les orties

The second expression is ‘’Faut pas pousser mémé dans les orties’’,  which is translated as ‘’You must not push grandma in the nettles’’.

Meaning: Don’t push it.

Example:

‘’Stop, faut pas pousser mémé dans les orties.’’ =  ‘’Stop, don’t push it.’’

         🦆 Ça casse pas trois pattes à un canard

The third expression is ‘’Ça casse pas trois pattes à un canard’’ which is translated as ‘’It does not break three legs to a duck’’.

Meaning: It’s not that good.

Example:

‘’C’est bien, mais ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard.’’ =  ‘’It’s good, but not great.’’

         🥬 Raconter des salades

The next expression is ‘’Raconter des salades’’ which is translated as ‘’To tell salads’’.

Meaning: To tell lies.

Example:

‘’Il raconte des salades!’’ =  ‘’He’s telling lies!’’

Or

‘’C’est des salades!’’ =  ‘’It’s all nonsense/lies!’’

         💰 Ça coûte la peau du cul

Then, we have the expression ‘’Ça coûte la peau du cul’’ which is translated as ‘’It costs the skin of one’s butt’’.

Meaning: It’s very expensive.

Example:

‘’Ouah, mais ça coûte la peau du cul!''  =  ‘’Wow, but that’s so expensive!’’

         🍐 Se fendre la poire

The last expression is ‘’Se fendre la poire’’ which is translated as ‘’To cut the pear’’.

Meaning: Laughing your head off.

Example:

’’Le film est très drôle, elle se fend la poire en le regardant.’’ =  ‘’The movie is really funny, she’s laughing her head off watching it.’’

 That's it!

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