Cat, dog, rodent-based expressions
Appeler un chat un chat - to call a cat a cat, to call a spade a spade (to speak plainly)
Acheter chat en poche - to buy a cat in a bag, to buy a pig in a poke (to purchase something sight unseen)
Avoir dâautres chats Ă fouetter - to have other cats to whip, to have bigger fish to fry (to have more important things to do)
Avoir des yeux de chat - to have catâs eyes, to have sharp (especially night) vision; to be very watchful
Avoir neuf vies comme un chat - to have nine lives like a cat, to be very resilient or lucky
Avoir un chat dans la gorge - to have a cat in the throat, to have a frog in oneâs throat (to be hoarse)
Chat Ă©chaudĂ© craint lâeau froide -a scalded cat fears cold water, once bitten, twice shy
Chat de gouttiĂšre - gutter cat, alley cat / stray cat; a person of rough or streetâsmart character
Câest du pipi de chat - itâs cat pee, itâs mediocre
Donner sa langue au chat - to give oneâs tongue to the cat, to give up (when unable to guess an answer)
Donner un chat pour un lapin - to give a cat for a rabbit, to pull the wool over someoneâs eyes (to substitute something inferior)
Ăcrire comme un chat - to write like a cat, to have terrible handwriting (like cat scratches)
Ătre comme chien et chat - to be like dog and cat, to fight like cats and dogs (to argue constantly)
Faire le chat - to play the cat / act the cat, to behave coyly, slyly, or evasively (often in flirtation or play)
Il nây a pas un chat - there isnât a cat, thereâs nobody there
Jouer au chat et Ă la souris - to play cat and mouse, to toy with someone
La nuit, tous les chats sont gris - at night, all cats are grey, in the dark, all things look the same (appearances donât matter in obscurity)
Manger comme un chat - to eat like a cat, to eat daintily
Ne rĂ©veillez pas le chat qui dort / Il ne faut pas rĂ©veiller le chat qui dort - donât wake the sleeping cat, let sleeping dogs lie (avoid stirring up trouble)
Quand le chat nâest pas lĂ , les souris dansent - when the cat isnât there, the mice dance, when the catâs away, the mice will play
Sâentendre comme chien et chat - to get along like dog and cat, to fight like cats and dogs
Tomber sur ses pattes comme un chat - to land on oneâs feet like a cat, to land on oneâs feet (to emerge successfully from difficulty)
Un vieux chat - an old cat, a sly old fox (a cunning, experienced person)
Vendre chat en poche - to sell a cat in a bag, to sell a pig in a pokeÂ
Avoir du chien - to have some dog, to be charming, stylish
Une vie de chien - a dogâs life, a miserable, hard life
Il fait un temps de chien - itâs dog weather, terrible weather
Entre chien et loup - between dog and wolf, dusk/twilight; ambiguous, in-between time
Se donner un mal de chien - to give oneself a dogâs pain, to go to great trouble, work extremely hard
Les chiens aboient, la caravane passe -dogs bark, the caravan moves on, critics will talk, but life/success goes on
Avoir un caractĂšre de chien - to have a dogâs character, to have a bad temper (in general)
Ătre dâune humeur de chien - to be in a dogâs mood, to be in a foul mood (right now)
Ce n'est pas fait pour les chiens - it is not made for dogs, it is there for a reason (typically accusatory)
Arriver comme un chien dans un jeu de quilles - to be received like a dog in a game of skittles, to be given a cold welcome
Un chien de la casse - a scrapyard dog, a selfish, aggressive man, in life or in flirting (super casual)
Les chiens ne font pas des chats - dogs donât make cats, the apple doesnât fall far from the tree
Le chien du jardinier - the gardenerâs dog, someone who prevents others from enjoying what they cannot use
Avoir la queue entre les pattes - to have the tail between the legs, to be ashamed or humbled
En chien de fusil - in rifle dog, curled up (sleeping position)
Donner la patte - to give the paw, to offer help or a small concession
Revenir comme un chien battu - to come back like a beaten dog, to return humbly or shamefully after failure
Chien qui dort ne peut mordre - a sleeping dog cannot bite, let sleeping dogs lie
Ne pas aboyer aprĂšs la lune - not to bark at the moon, donât waste energy on impossible goals
Faire le chien savant - to play the skilled dog, to show off trivial or pretentious knowledge
Faire le chien de garde - to act as a guard dog, to watch over something closely
Chien de berger - shepherd dog, a guide/leader
Chien de garde - guard dog, watchdog (financial/media)
Chienlit - dog bed (archaic), chaos, disorder (from chié dans le lit, linked to the May 1968 protests)
Mener une vie de chien - to lead a dogâs life, to have a hard, miserable life
Un mal de chien - a dogâs pain, terrible pain/difficult situation
Avoir un chien dans le viseur - to have a dog in the sights, to have someone in your sights/target
Faire la souris - to play the mouse, to act very shy or quiet
Manger comme une souris - to eat like a mouse, to eat very little
Se faire prendre comme une souris - to be caught like a mouse, to be caught easily, often while unsuspecting
Ătre coincĂ© comme une souris dans un piĂšge - to be stuck like a mouse in a trap, to be trapped in a hopeless situation
Un trou de souris - a mouse hole, a cramped space
Passer par un trou de souris - to go through a mouse hole, to squeeze through a very narrow space
Une souris grise - a grey mouse, a dull, inconspicuous person
Un nid Ă souris - a mouseâs nest, a messy tangle (wires/hair)
Ă bon chat, bon rat- to a good cat, a good rat, tit for tat; a fair fight between well-matched opponents
Ătre un rat - to be a rat, to be a traitor, a snitch, or stingy
Un rat de bibliothĂšque - a library rat, a bookworm
Un rat de ville / Un rat des champs - a city rat / a country rat, from La Fontaineâs fable: a city dweller VS a country dweller (âThe Town Mouse and the Country Mouseâ)
Sentir le rat - to smell the rat, to suspect that something is wrong
Ătre fait comme un rat - to be done like a rat, to be caught red-handed or trapped
Mourir comme un rat - to die like a rat, miserably, alone, or poor
Un trou Ă rats - a rat hole, a filthy, rundown place
Un rat dâĂ©gout - sewer rat, a despicable person
S'ennuyer comme un rat mort - to be as bored as a dead rat - extremely bored (very casual)
Fuir comme un rat quitte un navire qui coule - to flee like a rat leaving a sinking ship, to abandon a failing enterprise at the first sign of trouble.
