METAPHORICAL FRENCH EXPRESSIONS / EXPRESSIONS FRANÇAISES MÉTAPHORIQUES

Hello everyone! Welcome in another quick French lesson! Today, we are going to talk about metaphorical French expressions. Have you ever heard a French person saying "Il pleut comme vache qui pisse !"? I bet you did. Sometimes, you will probably hear them, and sometimes, they will sound ridiculous to your hear, but this is pretty common in France and in French language. 

Let’s see those expressions, their literal translation and their meaning! :)

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“Avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre.”

(literal translation : "To have the eyes bigger than the belly")

Meaning: To overestimate yourself and your capacity to eat something. Wanting to eat everything but knowing you will feel bloated and bad after the meal you eat.You ordered too much and you realize it.

"Être tombé sur la tête."

(literal translation : "To be fallen on the head")

Meaning : Being crazy. Saying nonsense.

"Être lourd." 

(literal translation : "Being heavy")

Meaning: Not being heavy in the context of actually being heavy like an heavy thing to pick up on the floor, but being annoying, having a bad sense of humour and giving a good headache to the people you are talking to… Or, feeling "lourd" because you ate too much and your stomach seems like it's weighting a lot of pounds. 
** informal, better to use it with people of the same age or to speak about someone who is not here.

"Être las."

(literal translation : "Being tired")

Meaning: « Las » [pronunced « Lass »], is a formal and polite word for « tired ». It means you are emotionally exhausted of a situation, or of someone. Usually the meaning is mental, not physical. You are tired of hearing the same things or living the same situation over and over again…

"N’avoir jamais vu le jour."

(literal translation : "Never saw the day")

Meaning: Usually it’s used to talk about a movie, a project or a book. Something that has never saw a proper execution or realization. It never came to an end, a physical, proper end.

"Tu me fatigues…" 

(literal translation : "You tire me…")

Meaning: Usually used to say to someone that this person is making you tired. You can use it to speak about your physic if for example you are running with a friend and you stop from exhaustion. You say “Tu me fatigues…” in a sense where you can’t follow the rhythm, it's exhausting. Or, you can use it to speak about a situation where someone is being really annoying and can’t stop annoying you. If so, you express you mental exhaustion. 
** informal, better to use it with people of the same age or to speak about someone who is not here

"Avoir du pot" or "Avoir le cul bordé de nouilles."

(literal translation: "Having the jackpot" or "Having the ass lined with noodles.")

Meaning: This one is pretty weird because clearly, why is your buttocks involved with noodles? Huh? I know. Let me explain : The first one and the second are exactly the same meaning, but the first one is polite though informal ; and the second one is really informal. Not very polite, so I suggest you to use it only with your siblings or your close friends as a joke. It means that you are lucky. Yes, lucky! About a situation or about anything else good that happens to you. Usually it’s used to accentuate the fact that on this point, you had a really really good luck…

** informal, quite unpolite, use with precaution. 

"Être radin."

(literal translation: "Being tightfisted/avaricious")

Meaning: Being close to your money and not willing to share any of it with anyone around you, or just counting excessively every penny you have and not wanting to share or lend money to people. You are “radin”, you are “close to your money”, "avaricious". For instance: do you remember, Picsou? This grumpy duck from Disney? Donald’s uncle? Well, this guy is the perfect illustration of being "radin"!

"On n’est pas sorti de l’auberge."

(literal translation : "We are not out of the inn.")

Meaning: We are in troubles, and we are not out of them yet! We can try to find a solution BUT seeing how it turns, we are not getting out of here yet… The situation is resolved but another one shows up and we are "Pas sorti de l'auberge!".

"Il pleut comme vache qui pisse !"

(literal translation : "It’s raining like a peeing cow!")

Meaning: It’s pouring, raining like crazy, raining a LOT. In English, the right equal expression to this one is: "It's raining cats and dogs."
** informal but not rude. I would advice you to use it only with people of your age, though. Or your family. Avoid it with strangers. 

"Ne pas en voir la fin."

(literal translation : "Don’t see the end of it.")

Meaning: Not being able to see the end of something. When someone is talking to you and you explain to your friends that it was difficult because this person was talking too much and you weren’t sure if they were going to actually stop talking one day… Or not seeing the end of a situation or even an exam. A long lasting situation who's disturbing you.

“Tu permets ?”

(literal translation : "Do you mind?")

Meaning: Can be used whether you are upset or just asking for someone’s permission to show something or try something for them because they failed and you got the answer or solution… usually nice and polite, depends of the tone of your voice. If you sound angry, it can be when someone cut you off and you reply something like “Tu permets ?” like “Do you mind? I was talking in case you didn’t notice…”.
** informal, better to use it with people of the same age, a friend, or siblings.

“Avoir une araignée au plafond.”

(literal translation: "To have a spider on the ceiling")

Meaning: Same as noodles and ass. Grammatically incorrect. Yes. Let’s take a closer look to it: having a spider on the ceiling means being crazy, not feeling at your best in your mind. You are extravagant, weird, crazy… Something is wrong with you and you have this little spider in your head, making you do weird things that confuse people. Usually a gentle expression, not meant to harm people or bully them…

"Avoir un petit pois dans la tête."

(literal translation : "Having a pea in your head")

Meaning: Same as the spider, but using a culinary metaphor. Gentle way of explaining that someone is not very smart. Usually used to say that a person is stupid.
** informal, better to use it with people of the same age or to speak about someone who is not here. Avoid with strangers.

“Être à côté de ses pompes.”

(literal translation: "Being next to your shoes")

Meaning: “Pompes” is an informal word for “Shoes”. Don’t use it to say to your boss “Look my new shoes!”. Use “chaussures”, which is the basic and correct term for “shoes” in French. “Pompes” can be considered as rude, depending on the context but if you use it with this expression, it’s totally fine because the context is correct. 
“Être à côté de ses pompes” means: you are out of your mind, in a way that you don’t know what you are doing anymore, you take bad decisions, you believe things that you shouldn’t and it makes you do things that people around you find weird and not appropriate. Other meaning to this: you are disturbed or tired today and you don’t really know what you do. For example, you put some orange juice in your bowl of cereals instead of milk… You are “à côté de tes pompes.”
** informal, better to use it with people of the same age or to speak about someone who is not here

"Avoir une chance de cocu"
(literal translation: "Having a deceived husband's luck")
Meaning: Being lucky. If you play to the lottery and you win, your friends can tell you "Tu as une chance de cocu !" meaning you are lucky even in those kind of unlikely situation. 
** informal, better to use it with people of the same age or to speak about someone who is not here

"Avoir les cornes"
(literal translation: "Having the horns")
Meaning: Being cheated on, by your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend... Being betrayed and cheated by someone. In an only romantically related context. 
** neutral usage.

Now that we reviewed all the idiotic and weird metaphorical French expressions, let’s look at some examples to understand how to use them, depending on the context or the situation!

Examples:

1) J'ai mangé trop de gâteaux et maintenant j'ai mal à l'estomac. J'ai eu les yeux plus gros que le ventre. / I ate too much cake and now my stomach hurts. I had the eyes bigger than the belly. 

2)  Josh a décidé de sortir dans la neige en short ! Il est tombé sur la tête... / Josh decided to go out in the snow wearing shorts! He fell on the head... (he is out of his mind).

3) Ce garçon n'arrête pas de me draguer. Il commence à être vraiment lourd... / This boy can't stop flirting with me. He starts to be very heavy/annoying... 

4) Je suis las du cours de mathématiques. Et je suis lassé de cette situation avec mon ami, il ne m'a toujours pas remboursé. / I am tired of maths class. And I am tired of this situation with my friend, he didn't pay me back yet. 

5) Ce projet n'a malheureusement jamais abouti. C'était un bon film, mais il n'a jamais vu le jour. / This project has unfortunately never succeeded. It was a good movie, but it never saw the day. 

6) Tu n'arrête pas de parler depuis ce matin ! Tu me fatigues ! / You can't stop talking since this morning! You tire me!

7) Mon dieu ! T'as eu du pot ! D'habitude le professeur est très sévère avec les notes. / God! You have been lucky! Usually the teacher is very strict with grades. 

Notre ami Nick a le cul bordé de nouilles, pas vrai ?! / Our friend Nick has an ass lined with noodles, right?! (Nick is basically very very lucky... Keep in mind: very unpolite, informal. Use with precaution.) 

8) Il ne m'a donné que cinq euros (5€) pour mon anniversaire ! Je ne pensais pas que grand-père était aussi radin ! / He only gave me five euros for my birthday! I never thougt grandpa was so tightfisted/avaricious!

9) Avec tous ces problèmes, je peux te dire qu'on n'est pas sorti de l'auberge ! C'est dingue ! / Along with all those troubles, I can tell you that we are not out of the inn! That's crazy !

10) Quel temps fait-il aujourd'hui ? Ici c'est très ensoleillé. / What's the weather today? Here it's very sunny.
Ici ? Il pleut comme vache qui pisse depuis hier soir ! / Here? It’s raining like a peeing cow since yesterday evening!

11) Ce séminaire était tellement long, je n'en voyais pas la fin ! / This lecture was so long, I didn't see the end of it!

12) Je ne sais pas comment utiliser cet ordinateur... / I don't know how to use this computer... 
Tu permets ? Je vais te montrer. / Do you mind? I'm gonna show you. 

Je disais à Kelly qu'elle était très... / I was telling Kelly that she was very... 
Eh! Ça fait longtemps! Hey! It's been a while! 
Tu permets ? J'étais en train de parler ! / Do you mind? I was speaking! 
Désolé... / Sorry...

13) Non ! J'étais en cours de Français et j'ai noté tout le cours dans mon classeur d'Espagnol ! / No! I was in French class and I noted all the course in my Spanish binder! 
Mon dieu, tu es à côté de tes pompes aujourd'hui ! Essaie de te concentrer ! / God, you are so next to your shoes today! Try to focus! 


Note that I gave you the literal translation in English so you can more easily understand what all those metaphorical expressions mean in French! I guess they never say it the same way in English, of course. 
I hope this article has been helpful to you and that you better understand why we say those things sometimes in French and in which context to use them! Also remember that we don't always use them but sometimes you can hear them and it's better to understand and not being confused or fooled if a French friend try to make fun of you as a joke! :) 

Thank you very much for visiting my blog. See you very soon for a new lessons!