Day 1575 (Thursday) 30th September 2021.

What a day – again! It was still dark when my alarm went off but thankfully it was daylight by the time we left the flat. Huw dropped me off at Ipag ready to start at 8.20 and I was in the lecture theatre again.

I didn’t actually use the stage and microphone, I just did this for a laugh, I hope I never have to use the stage. I spent two hours with my regular group and we had a 10-minute break before I had to face a group of 26 students. This was really daunting, I had met them all last week but in two much smaller groups and I asked them all to write their names on a post it in the hope of remembering all their names.

It went pretty well but I was shattered after the two hours. I went to the planning office to double check my timetable for next week and was chuffed to learn that next week is going to be a lot lighter. While I was there the Welsh woman called Sarah from Caerphilly came in and she invited me to eat our lunch in the garden. Boy that woman can talk but it was great to hear her accent. My boss in Monaco rang me about a new group in the next few weeks so that was the end of my lunch break. Half of the big group I’d had earlier had another lesson with me after lunch and it was so much better with just 14 students. I was on my knees by the time Huw picked me up at 3.30.

Here are the last of the French idioms

French Idioms Using Food Items

It's obvious that French love food, right? They even take food seriously.

It's as expected, then, that a lot of French idioms revolve around food. Here is a list of just a fraction of the many food-related French idioms.

1. La moutarde monte au nez (à quelqu'un)

Literal translation: the mustard goes up the nose (ouch).
Figurative translation: to get really angry.

This is one of those 'light-bulb' moments. You understand the relation between the literal and figurative translations instantly. I mean, that's the feeling where you're fuming through your nose as if something hot has been put there.

Il a osé me mentir pour la énième fois. A ce moment-là, j'ai senti la moutarde me monter au nez.

He dared lying to me for the umpteenth time. At that moment, I could feel I'm losing my temper.

2. Tomber dans les pommes

Literal translation: to fall in the apples.
Figurative translation: to faint, to lose consciousness.

Yes, falling in the apples is something improbable, so why apples? According to a theory, the word 'pommes' here is a replacement of 'pâmer.' The latter, meaning to faint, is an ancient word that nobody uses anymore.

Il a fait tellement chaud qu'elle est tombée dans les pommes.

It was extremely hot that she fainted.

3. Se vendre comme des petits pains

Literal translation: to be sold like small bread.
Figurative translation: to be in high demand/to be sold very easily.

There's a similar idiom in English: to sell like hotcakes. Both refer to something that people love so much, that you can practically sell it for whatever price you like.

Malgré le prix assez elevé, ce produit se vend comme des petits pains.

Even though it's quite expensive, a lot of people buy this product.

4. Recevoir une note salée

Literal translation: to receive a salty bill.
Figurative translation: to receive a huge surprise bill.

This is what you use when you have to pay an unexpectedly high bill. For example, when you take a beer from the mini bar in your hotel room, you can get a salty bill at the end.

Il a reçu une note salée de la part de son photographe de mariage.

He received a huge bill from his wedding photographer.

5. Ce n'est pas tes oignons

Literal translation: these are not your onions.
Figurative translation: it doesn't concern you.

Just a heads up: this is a rude way to tell someone that they should mind their own business. You should avoid saying it to your boss, for example.

Arretez de me poser ce genre de questions. Ce n'est pas vos oignons.

Stop asking me this kind of questions. It doesn't concern you.

6. Pas ma tasse de thé

Literal translation: not my cup of tea.
Figurative translation: as it's identical with the English one, I think you can guess what it means.

Les films de super heros ne sont pas ma tasse de thé.

Super hero films are not to my taste.

7. Gagner des cacahuètes

Literal translation: to make peanuts.
Figurative translations: to receive a very small wage.

I couldn't find a reference to the origin of this idiom. But if I could venture a guess, I would say that this one refers to how a circus monkey is paid in peanuts after hard work.

Sa soeur voudrait trouver un autre travail car elle gagne des cacahuètes en ce moment.

Her sister would like to find another job since she has a very small salary right now.

French expression of the day: Je me casse

Want to do a chilled-out French exit? Here's the phrase you will need.

Why do I need to know je me casse?

French people say this all the time. Especially young people. But if you’re not familiar with the expression, you might think they are announcing that they ‘are breaking’, which is not at all what they mean.

What does it mean?

Although the expression je me casse includes the verb casser (‘to break’), it actually signifies making an exit. It also implies that the exit made is pretty swift, in the sense that the person is ‘getting out of here’ rather than ‘leaving’.

Imagine that you’re in school, suffering through a horrendously boring lecture. Well, if you’re the cool French kid in class, you might say je me casse – ‘I’m out of here’ – and head for the door.

Or, say you’re at a party that you aren’t really feeling the vibe of anymore and you want to head off, you could look at your French friend and say on se casse? – let’s get out of here?

Alternatively..

You may also use casser as an interjection, in which case the meaning of se casser (‘get out’) becomes much less relaxed.

For example, if you’re arguing with your French boyfriend and you want him to get out of your apartment, you could dramatically scream:

Casse-toi ! – Get out!

Synonyms

A less colloquial way of announcing your exit is je m’en vais (I’m leaving) or alternatively on s’en va (we’re leaving).

Another one, which lies closer to je me casse on the informality scale, is je me barre, or on se barre.

I’m afraid these are the last of the translations but I still have plenty of cats.

Cats