Everyday Spoken French Expressions

to be fed up with it

Tip: Literally 'to have enough of it'. The everyday way to say you've had it; fine everywhere except formal writing.

to get on someone's nerves

Tip: Literally 'to bang on someone's nerves'. Casual, about a person or a recurring annoyance.

to lose one's temper

Tip: Literally 'to blow a cable'. Very casual — among friends, not at work.

to stand someone up

Tip: Literally 'to put down a rabbit for someone'. Only for failing to show up to a date or arranged meeting.

to let someone down

Tip: Literally 'to let someone fall'. Abandoning someone who was counting on you.

to drop it

Tip: Literally 'to let fall'. Telling someone to stop insisting.

it's not rocket science

Tip: Literally 'it's not wizardly'. About something easy to grasp or do — also the title of a long-running French science show.

to be a piece of cake

Tip: Literally 'it's cake'. About something very easy.

it's not that big an ask

Tip: Literally 'it's not the sea to drink'. Reassuring someone that the effort involved is manageable — about scale of effort, not difficulty.

to be swamped

Tip: Literally 'to be overflowed'. Works at the office and at home alike.

to have a lot on one's plate

Tip: Literally 'to have bread on the board'. About a big workload still ahead of you.

to pull an all-nighter

Tip: Literally 'to spend a white night'. Studying, working, or simply not sleeping.

to call it a day

Tip: Literally 'to stop there for today'. Wrapping up work or a session.

to hit the nail on the head

Tip: Literally 'to put one's finger on it'. Praising someone for an accurate remark.

to beat around the bush

Tip: Literally 'to turn around the pot'. Usually said to tell someone to get to the point.

to be in the same boat

Tip: The same image in both languages. Expressing solidarity in a shared problem.

speak of the devil

Tip: Literally 'when one speaks of the wolf'. Said when the person you were discussing walks in.

once in a blue moon

Tip: Literally 'every thirty-sixth of the month'. Playful, for something that basically never happens.

to cost an arm and a leg

Tip: Literally 'to cost the eyes of the head'. About an outrageous price.

to be broke

Tip: Literally 'to be mown'. Casual, about having no money at the moment.

to make ends meet

Tip: Literally 'to join the two ends'. About managing financially month to month.

to get the hang of it

Tip: Literally 'to take the hand blow'. About picking up a practical skill.

to give someone a hand

Tip: Literally 'to slip someone a hand blow'. A casual offer of help.

to keep one's fingers crossed

Tip: Literally 'to cross the fingers'. Same gesture, same use as in English.

to keep an eye on something

Tip: The same image in both languages. Watching something without full attention.

to be over the moon

Tip: Literally 'to be at the angels'. About intense happiness; slightly elevated but common.

to have a soft spot for someone

Tip: Literally 'to have a weakness for someone'. A mild romantic or aesthetic preference.

to take the plunge

Tip: Literally 'to throw oneself in the water'. Finally starting something you'd been hesitating over.

to be caught red-handed

Tip: Literally 'to be taken with the hand in the bag'. Caught in the act.

to blow things out of proportion

Tip: Literally 'to make a whole cheese out of it'. Mocking someone's overreaction.

to rub someone the wrong way

Tip: Literally 'to take someone against the fur'. Approaching someone in a way that guarantees resistance.