Lost in translation? “Don’t have a cockroach”. Here are 25 hilarious French expressions translated literally with their English counterparts.

French is such a beautiful language, but I think we often overlook the French sense of humour which is omnipresent in their colourful expressions. Picking up common French expressions are a great way to learn more about the personality of French people and their culture. I’ve come across a lot of vulgar and offensive expressions, but I’ve tried to keep this article clean.

A New Fun Way to Learn French

I’m always on the hunt for new enjoyable ways to learn a language. A few months back I stumbled across the Rocket Languages online course. If you’re interested in learning French then I recommend that you consider trying them out. They offer a pretty cool service with some really useful features to give you a well-rounded learning experience.

A couple of things I found especially useful is the ability to listen to audio clips to hear the correct pronunciation. Rocket Languages also let you record your voice and based on that, it will highlight where your pronunciation needs improvement. I don’t know how it works but it’s awesome! I tend to do a lot of language studying while I commute to work each day so using their mobile app is especially handy. Enough about that, Commençons!

Enough about that, Commençons!

Let’s take a look at some funny French idioms.

1. He’s running on my bean

Translation: Il me court sur le haricot

Meaning: He’s annoying me

English Equivalent: He’s getting on my nerves

2. To pedal in semolina

Translation: Pédaler dans la semoule

Meaning: Have trouble doing something

English Equivalent: To go around in circles

3. The habit doesn’t make the monk

Translation: L’habit ne fait pas le moine

Meaning: Appearances can be deceiving

English Equivalent: The suit doesn’t make the man

4. To have the ass surrounded by noodles

Translation: Avoir le cul bordé de nouilles

Meaning: To be very lucky

English Equivalent: To be a lucky so-and-so

5. To have the cockroach

Translation: Avoir le cafard

Meaning: To feel down

English Equivalent: To feel blue

6. To be in beautiful sheets

Translation: Être dans de beaux draps

Meaning: To be in a bad situation

English Equivalent: Be in a right mess, be up the creek without a paddle

7. To make cheese out of it

Translation: En faire tout un fromage

Meaning: To make a big deal out of something

English Equivalent: Kick up a huge fuss

8. It doesn’t break three legs of a duck

Translation: Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard

Meaning: It’s not that incredible

English Equivalent: Nothing to write home about

9. Pissing in a violin

Translation: Pisser dans un violon

Meaning: To waste time on something futile

English Equivalent: Waste your breath, talk to a wall

10. Mind your onions

Translation: Mêle-toi de tes oignons!

Meaning: Not to interfere or ask anything personal

English Equivalent: Mind your own business

11. It’s raining ropes

Translation: Il pleut des cordes

Meaning: It’s raining a lot

English Equivalent: It’s raining cats and dogs

12. Let’s come back to our sheep

Translation: Revenons à nos moutons

Meaning: To go back to the original topic of conversation

English Equivalent: Let’s get back to business, get back on track

13. To have one’s ass between two chairs

Translation: Avoir le cul entre deux chaises

Meaning: To be undecided

English Equivalent: Sitting on the fence

14. Fingers in the nose

Translation: Les doigts dans le nez

Meaning: Easy to do

English Equivalent: With one hand tied behind your back, a piece of cake

15. To put a rabbit

Translation: Poser un lapin

Meaning: Not to show up to your date

English Equivalent: Stand somebody up

16. It gives me a beautiful leg

Translation: Ça me fait une belle jambe

Meaning: Not to care, couldn’t care less

English Equivalent: A fat lot of good that will do me

17. To be round as a shovel handle

Translation: être rond comme une queue de pelle

Meaning: That someone is very very drunk

English Equivalent: Drunk as a skunk

18. Sing like a saucepan

Translation: Chanter comme une casserole

Meaning: Someone who really can’t sing

English Equivalent: Sing flat

19. Eat the dandelions by the root

Translation: Manger les pissenlits par la racine

Meaning: To be dead

English Equivalent: Push up daisies

20. Drown the fish

Translation: Noyer le poisson

Meaning: Avoid a subject by talking about everything and anything else.

English Equivalent: Confuse the issue

21. Don’t push Granny into the nettles!

Translation: Faut pas pousser mamie dans les orties

Meaning: Don’t go too far don’t exaggerate

English Equivalent: Don’t push it!

22. To get or receive a rake

Translation: Se prendre un râteau

Meaning: To fail in an attempt

English Equivalent: Get knocked back, be shot down in flames

23. To swallow snakes

Translation: Avaler des couleuvres

Meaning: To be gullible

English Equivalent: A dumb bunny

24. Make a fish tail

Translation: Faire une queue de poisson

Meaning: Over take someone closely

English Equivalent: Cut someone off

25. It’s the end of the beans

Translation: C’est la fin des haricots

Meaning: Nothing more can be done

English Equivalent: Game over!

Ready to improve your French? Visit my handy language resource guide.

Plus, if you want to know how the experts learn languages, I asked 11 top polyglots to share their language learning secrets. Find out how they start learning a new language, overcome plateaus, and maintain multiple languages.

Over to you!

Which of these French expressions is your favourite? Do you know any other funny French expressions?

Let me know using the comments section below or join me on social media to start a conversation.

Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this post.

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