FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

Today's column is in French and English and is written by Barbara (who tells me, regarding yesterday's story, that the French do have an equivalent expression for "bird bath".... "Une toilette de chat"--"a cat's lick" means to: "se laver d'une façon succinte, au lavabo par exemple," or to wash oneself hastily, at the sink, for example.)

mordre (mohr-druh) verb
1. to bite

Expressions:
se mordre les lèvres = to bite one's lips
mordre la poussière = to bite the dust
mordre à l'appât = to swallow the bait, to be duped
ne savoir y mordre = "to not know where to bite" to not know where to
begin (to understand something)
mordre à quelque chose = to take to something (to warm to a subject)
se mordre la langue d'avoir parlé = to bite one's tongue for having spoken (to regret)

..........................
Citation du Jour

Les hommes, c'est comme les chiens, ça mord parce que ça a peur.
Men are like dogs. They bite because they are afraid. --Jean Anouilh

...........................................................
A Closer Look at French Expressions
by Barbara Barles

Bonjour à tous,

Je vous propose de découvrir la 2ème partie des expressions anatomiques françaises. Cette liste n'est pas exhaustive, mais vous permettra déjà d'être calés sur la question !

..........................
Hello everyone,

I invite you to discover part two of expressions having to do with the human body. This list is not exhaustive, but will help you to understand the subject better.

- Avoir deux mains gauches:
"To have two left hands"
= être maladroit (to be clumsy)

- Avoir les dents longues:
"To have long teeth"
= avoir de l'ambition, être prêt à tout pour réussir (to be ambitious, to do anything to succeed)

- Tourner de l'oeil:
"To turn the eye"
= s'évanouir (to pass out)

- S'en mordre les doigts:
"To bite the fingers"
= regretter d'avoir fait ou dit quelque chose (to regret to have done or to have said something)

- Avoir les deux pieds dans le même sabot:
"To have two feet in the same clog"
= être empoté, ne pas se remuer (to be clumsy, to not be able to get a move on things)

- Tourner sa langue sept fois dans sa bouche avant de parler:
"To turn one's tongue seven times in one's mouth before speaking"
= bien réfléchir avant de dire quelque chose (to think twice before saying something)

- Avoir les oreilles qui sifflent:
"To have ears that whistle"
en français, lorsque l'on parle de quelqu'un, on dit qu'il doit avoir les oreilles qui sifflent.
(In French, when we talk about someone, we say that his ears must be whistling.)

- Avoir l'estomac dans les talons:
"To have the stomach in the heels"
= être affamé (to be hungry).

- Taper dans l'oeil:
"To hit the eye"
= Plaire (to be pleasing to the eye).

- Se mettre le doigt dans l'oeil:
"To put the finger in the eye"
= se tromper (to be mistaken)

- Mettre l'eau à la bouche:
"To put water to the mouth"
= donner envie (to make you thirsty for something)

- Ne pas avoir froid aux yeux:
"To not have cold eyes"
= être intrépide, culotté (to be bold, to have nerve)

.........................................
Barbara Barles is a legal expert based in Toulon, France. She enjoys trying out new recipes on friends and the pleasing "qualité de vie" in her native Provence.