French Idioms That Make No Sense

Ever felt so down you wanted to tell someone you “have a cockroach”? Or been so surprised you “fell in the apples”? If these sentences sound like utter gibberish, congratulations—you’ve just stumbled into the wonderfully weird world of French idioms. Every language has its quirks, but French seems to have a special talent for crafting phrases that are as baffling as they are beautiful.

Idioms are the secret handshake of a language. They’re expressions where the meaning isn’t deducible from the individual words. For learners, they can be a frustrating hurdle, but for the linguistically curious, they’re a fascinating window into a culture’s history, humor, and collective imagination. So, let’s pull back the curtain on 10 of the most wonderfully nonsensical French idioms that will make you sound less like a textbook and more like a true Français.

From Cockroaches to Cooked Carrots: A Tour of Bizarre French Idioms

Get ready to arm yourself with phrases that will charm, confuse, and ultimately impress your French-speaking friends. We’ll break down the literal meaning, the real meaning, and how to use them without making a whole cheese out of it.

1. Avoir le cafard

   Expression: Avoir le cafard
   Literal Translation: To have the cockroach
   Real Meaning: To be down, sad, or have the blues.

   This is perhaps the most famous and evocative of France’s gloomy idioms. When you’re feeling melancholic and listless, you don’t have a case of the Mondays; you have a cockroach. The term is said to have been popularized by the poet Charles Baudelaire, who used “cafard” to describe a deep sense of spleen and melancholy. It paints a perfect picture of a dark, scuttling feeling that you just can’t shake.

   Exemple: Je ne sais pas pourquoi, mais aujourd’hui, j’ai le cafard. (I don’t know why, but today, I’m feeling really down.)

2. Tomber dans les pommes

   Expression: Tomber dans les pommes
   Literal Translation: To fall in the apples
   Real Meaning: To faint or pass out.

   No, this doesn’t involve an unfortunate accident at an apple orchard. The origin of this phrase is a bit hazy, but one popular theory suggests it’s a linguistic evolution. In the 19th century, the writer George Sand used the expression “être dans les pommes cuites” (to be in the cooked apples) to mean being in a state of extreme fatigue. This may have morphed from the old expression “se pâmer”, which means to swoon or faint. Over time, “pâmer” sounded enough like “pomme” that the two became linked. Voilà!

   Exemple: Quand il a vu le sang, il est tombé dans les pommes. (When he saw the blood, he fainted.)

3. Les carottes sont cuites

   Expression: Les carottes sont cuites
   Literal Translation: The carrots are cooked
   Real Meaning: It’s over; the situation is hopeless; the goose is cooked.

   This is the French way of saying there’s no turning back. Once carrots are cooked, you can’t make them raw again. The phrase signifies a point of no return or a situation that has reached its final, unchangeable conclusion—usually a negative one. It’s a beautifully simple, rustic way to express finality.

   Exemple: L’équipe adverse a marqué trois buts. Pour nous, les carottes sont cuites. (The opposing team scored three goals. For us, it’s all over.)

4. En faire tout un fromage

   Expression: En faire tout un fromage
   Literal Translation: To make a whole cheese out of it
   Real Meaning: To make a big deal out of nothing; to make a mountain out of a molehill.

   Could there be a more quintessentially French idiom? This expression beautifully illustrates the process of taking something small and simple (milk) and turning it into something much more complex and significant (cheese). You use this when someone is overreacting or blowing a minor issue way out of proportion.

   Exemple: Ce n’était qu’une petite erreur, pas la peine d’en faire tout un fromage ! (It was just a small mistake, there’s no need to make such a big deal out of it!)

5. Avoir la pêche

   Expression: Avoir la pêche
   Literal Translation: To have the peach
   Real Meaning: To be full of energy; to feel great and peachy.

   On the opposite end of the spectrum from “having the cockroach” is “having the peach.” If you wake up feeling fantastic, energetic, and ready to take on the world, this is the perfect phrase. Why a peach? Just think of a ripe, vibrant, juicy peach—it’s a perfect symbol of vitality and health.

   Exemple: J’ai bien dormi cette nuit, j’ai la pêche ce matin ! (I slept well last night, I feel great this morning!)

6. Poser un lapin

   Expression: Poser un lapin
   Literal Translation: To put down a rabbit
   Real Meaning: To stand someone up; to not show up for a date or appointment.

   This one is truly bizarre. If your date doesn’t show up, they have “put a rabbit down” for you. The origin likely comes from late 19th-century slang where “lapin” referred to a refusal to pay a prostitute for her services. Over time, its meaning broadened to encompass any situation where someone fails to show up for an arrangement, leaving the other person waiting.

   Exemple: J’ai attendu une heure, mais il n’est jamais venu. Il m’a posé un lapin. (I waited for an hour, but he never came. He stood me up.)

7. Revenons à nos moutons

   Expression: Revenons à nos moutons
   Literal Translation: Let’s get back to our sheep
   Real Meaning: Let’s get back to the topic at hand.

   This delightful idiom has a clear literary origin, dating back to a 15th-century French play, “La Farce de Maître Pathelin.” In the play, a trial is derailed when a shepherd, testifying about his missing sheep, gets sidetracked by another grievance. The exasperated judge repeatedly tries to steer the conversation back by saying, “Revenons à nos moutons!” The phrase stuck and is now used in boardrooms and classrooms across France.

   Exemple: C’est une discussion intéressante, mais revenons à nos moutons, s’il vous plaît. (This is an interesting discussion, but let’s get back to the topic, please.)

8. Pédaler dans la semoule

   Expression: Pédaler dans la semoule
   Literal Translation: To pedal in semolina
   Real Meaning: To spin your wheels; to go nowhere despite putting in a lot of effort.

   Imagine trying to ride a bicycle through a giant tub of couscous. You’d be pedaling furiously but making absolutely no progress. This highly visual idiom, likely born from the world of cycling, perfectly captures the feeling of being stuck in a rut, working hard but achieving nothing.

   Exemple: J’essaie de résoudre ce problème depuis des heures, j’ai l’impression de pédaler dans la semoule. (I’ve been trying to solve this problem for hours, I feel like I’m just spinning my wheels.)

9. Il pleut des cordes

   Expression: Il pleut des cordes
   Literal Translation: It’s raining ropes
   Real Meaning: It’s raining cats and dogs; it’s pouring.

   While English speakers see cats and dogs falling from the sky during a downpour, the French see ropes. This makes a bit more visual sense, conjuring an image of rain so thick and heavy that the streams of water look like ropes connecting the sky to the ground. It’s a simple, effective, and much less chaotic image than a shower of animals.

   Exemple: N’oubliez pas votre parapluie, il pleut des cordes ! (Don’t forget your umbrella, it’s pouring!)

10. Chercher la petite bête

    Expression: Chercher la petite bête
    Literal Translation: To look for the little beast
    Real Meaning: To nitpick; to look for tiny flaws.

    The “little beast” in question is most likely a flea or a louse. Picture someone meticulously combing through hair or fabric to find a minuscule bug. This idiom perfectly describes someone who obsesses over insignificant details or goes out of their way to find fault in something, no matter how small.

    Exemple: Le rapport est excellent, arrête de chercher la petite bête ! (The report is excellent, stop nitpicking!)

Ready to Sound More French?

Mastering idioms is a huge step towards true fluency. It shows you understand not just the words of a language, but its soul. So, the next time you’re feeling energetic, don’t just say you feel good—say you “have the peach.” And if a friend is making a big deal out of a tiny problem, you can now confidently tell them to stop “making a whole cheese out of it.”

Don’t be afraid to try them out. Even if you get it slightly wrong, your French friends will likely be more impressed and amused than critical. After all, language is about connection, and what better way to connect than through its most bizarre and wonderful expressions?