Vivid idiomatic expressions

Vivid idiomatic expressions

avoir le cafard, poser un lapin, coûter les yeux de la tête.

⚡Key points

An idiom = non-literal meaning→cannot be read word by word
avoir le cafard→to feel down, the blues
poser un lapin→to stand someone up
coûter les yeux de la tête→to cost a fortune
Register and imagery→lively, often colloquial speech

What an idiom is

An idiomatic expression has a figurative, non-decomposable meaning: it can’t be read as the sum of its words. Tomber dans les pommes = to faint (not “to fall into apples”). Mastering idioms is a sign of lively, natural French.

Idiom → meaning

avoir le cafard
to feel down
lit. “to have a cockroach”
tomber dans les pommes
to faint
“to fall into apples”
poser un lapin
to stand someone up
“to lay a rabbit”
donner sa langue au chat
to give up guessing
“to give one’s tongue to the cat”
coûter les yeux de la tête
to cost a fortune
“to cost the eyes”
avoir un poil dans la main
to be lazy
“to have a hair in the hand”

Thematic imagery

Many idioms are built around the body (coûter les yeux de la tête), animals (quand les poules auront des dents = never), food (raconter des salades = to lie), the weather (il pleut des cordes = it’s pouring). The image is often culturally rooted.

Examples by theme

1

Body

Ça m’a coûté les yeux de la tête. (It cost me a fortune.)

2

Animals

Quand les poules auront des dents. (When pigs fly.)

3

Food / weather

Arrête de raconter des salades ! (Stop telling tales!)

Il pleut des cordes.

💡⚠️ Don’t translate literally

An idiom must not be translated literally and its words cannot be changed (it is fixed). Many carry a register: casser sa pipe (to die) is colloquial. At C1 the goal is to understand and use them aptly; creative distortion is a C2 device.
poser un lapin à qqn (fixed, not « mettre un lapin »)
Image ≠ literal meaning.

Dialogue: a missed date

TomElle m’a posé un lapin hier soir.
LouÇa craint. Tu as dû avoir le cafard.
TomUn peu. Et le resto coûtait les yeux de la tête.
LouAllez, ne te fais pas de bile, ça arrive.

Tom: She stood me up last night. | Lou: That sucks. You must have felt down. | Tom: A bit. And the restaurant cost a fortune. | Lou: Come on, don’t worry, it happens.