Expressions du Quotidien — avoir le cafard, tomber dans les pommes
Expressions du Quotidien: avoir le cafard, tomber dans les pommes
A lesson of Fr B2 — Upper Intermediate, in Expressions Idiomatiques, about 15 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will understand and use 12 essential French everyday idioms, know their origins, and deploy them naturally in writing and conversation.
Pourquoi les expressions idiomatiques ?
A hallmark of advanced French fluency is the ability to understand — and occasionally use — idiomatic expressions. They appear constantly in novels, films, news commentary, and casual speech. Translating them word for word produces nonsense: avoir le cafard literally means "to have the cockroach." But every French speaker knows it means "to feel down / blue."
Learning the story behind an idiom makes it stick. This lesson covers 12 expressions you'll encounter in everyday modern French.
Les 12 expressions avec histoire et exemples
Émotions et état mental
1. Avoir le cafard — to feel down, to have the blues Depuis qu'elle est partie, j'ai vraiment le cafard. — Since she left, I've really been feeling low. Origine : The writer Gérard de Nerval reportedly adopted a pet lobster. Cafard (cockroach) was associated with creeping, dark feelings in 19th-century slang.
2. Avoir le vague à l'âme — to feel wistful, vaguely melancholy À la fin de l'été, j'ai toujours ce vague à l'âme. — At summer's end, I always feel this vague sadness. A more literary variant of avoir le cafard — used in essays and fiction.
3. Être dans son assiette — to feel well / not feel well (usually negative: ne pas être dans son assiette) Tu n'as pas l'air dans ton assiette aujourd'hui. — You don't look yourself today. Origine : 17th-century assiette referred to one's "position" or "balance" (not the plate).
Corps et santé
4. Tomber dans les pommes — to faint, to pass out Il a tellement eu chaud qu'il est tombé dans les pommes. — He got so hot he fainted. Origine : Possibly from pâmer (to swoon), altered over time; some link it to George Sand's letters.
5. Avoir du pain sur la planche — to have a lot of work ahead, to have one's work cut out On a du pain sur la planche avant la présentation de demain. — We've got a lot of work ahead before tomorrow's presentation. Origine : In bakeries, bread loaves laid out on the board represented work still to be done.