Day 3416 (Friday) 16th October 2026.

This is Antibes

and this is Fort Alban between Villefranche and Nice.

Here are the rest of the idioms…

Level 2 Idioms: Moderately Bizarre

16.”Ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillère”

Literally, it says: “Not to go there with the back of the spoon”. If you’re trying to figure out what this means, stop.  It’s a bit difficult to guess, but what it means is that there is no half-measures with a certain person. Like, he/she is an all or nothing type.

17.”Noyer le poisson”

 Yet another animal-related idiom, but this means to evade an issue. But the literal meaning? “To drown the fish“.

18.“Parler à tort et à travers”

It means to babble or to yammer but the direct translation states “to speak wrongly and crosswise“. Yeah. Crosswise talking. Whatever that is.

19.”Prendre entre quatre yeux”

The exact meaning is “to take someone between four eyes” but the logical meaning is to have an argument with someone.

20.“Manger / sucer les pissenlits par la racine”

This idiom is actually dark and poetic. It literally means “to eat / suck the dandelions by the root”, but the real meaning is to be dead. Kind of paints a morbid yet poignant picture, doesn’t it?

Level 3 Idioms: full-scale weird.

21.”À boire ou je tue le chien!”

We have come across idioms about cats, chickens, ducks. Now it’s time for the dogs. This idiom literally translates to: bring me something to drink or I kill the dog. It’s, like, the extreme level of command. So when you hear it, just do as the man says and be quick about it!

22.”Arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupe”

A strand of hair in your soup is probably the last thing you need. So this idiom which literally means “to arrive like a hair in the soup” is all about completely irrelevant remark in a conversation.

23.”Il y une couille dans le potage”

Speaking of soups, you know you have a big problem when there is a testicle in your soup. Can you just imagine the ruckus that will bring? This idiom literally means that “there is a testicle in the soup“, and it means there is a problem here.

24.”Pas piqué des hannetons”

When you hear someone say in French that they’re not bitten by cockchafers, it means some are doing great /something is great. Cockchafers or May Beetles are awful pests, so not being bitten by one is a great thing, right?

25.”Peigner la girafe”

There are lots of useful things to do with your time, and it certainly does not involve combing a giraffe. So when you hear this, it means “to do something useless”. No offence to giraffes.

26.”Quand les poules auront des dents”

Chickens do not have teeth and will never have them, in the same manner that pigs cannot fly. This idiom which literally says, “when chickens will have teeth” means never.

27.”Se faire chier comme un rat mort”

Have you ever been so bored you make yourself shit like a dead rat? That doesn’t sound quite right but this one particular absurd expression is off the charts in levels of ludicrousness. Literally says “to make oneself shit like a dead rat” and means to be extremely bored.

28.”Sortir de la gueule d’une vache”

So you get out of the house wearing crumpled, un-ironed clothes, and someone casually remarks in French something along the lines of “to come from a cow’s mouth“. Before you conjure weird ideas about things that come out of a cow’s mouth which seem like a really gross thing to think about — relax. He only meant your clothing is crumpled and you should probably do something about it.

29.”Avoir des atomes crochus avec quelqu’un”

This idiom is a little bit quirky and nerdy in a somewhat romantic way. The literal translation says “to have hooked atoms with someone” which means to have a lot in common with another person. Like, being in the same wavelength and to totally “get” someone.

30.”Un peu mon neveu!”

The literal translation: “a little bit, my nephew!” While it may be weird to hear someone address you as their nephew, do not fret. It’s only a fancy way of saying, “of course!”

Bonus idiom: “Avec ma bite et mon couteau”

This expression is a creative way of saying that you had to do something with very few tools. The literal meaning? “with my dick and my knife“. If you have to survive a situation with only those couple of tools, you must be one heck of an ingeniously resourceful chap.