#equatcns

requested by @atnuka idioms + expressions list. mostly idioms. an idiom, as defined by the dictionary of cambridge, is a group of words in a fixed order that have a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own.

coucou! french idioms. it’s about all authenticity and truly investing yourself in the pathway towards fluency.  you are going to get confused when you hear expressions like fat morning or to drink like a hole. that’s inevitable, confusion is a part of learning. making mistakes is a part of learning. you may be able to translate these expressions literally, but knowing the figurative definitions and fundamental meanings beyond a fixed group of words is much more important. i’m going to say this once, and i’ll probably say it again: when trying to reach fluency in a language such as french, do NOT translate everything LITERALLY, especially if you’re doing more complicated work. just don’t do it. it will lead to problems down the line, i can promise you that. french and english for example, differ in nature, structural systems, phonetics, many (many) aspects of grammar, basic sentence construction, syntax, semantics, rhythm, etc. it’s essential to realize what some languages require linguistically / socially, and what some do not. 

i wanted to include so many more, so if you guys want a part two i’d totally be open to writing one.

resources of choice

wordreference.com

linguee.fr

if you’d like to search for more french idioms, google them in french “expressions idiomatiques en français”, not in english “popular french idioms”. you’re bound to get more accurate results that way as they’re more often than not written by actual french writers / authors / bloggers.

thank you for 7K followers! i’m planning to do something very special @8.5K. vote on upcoming masterposts

french movie and song playlist

french proverbs: a guide

french idioms and expressions, part two? 

idioms, a-z

au fur et à mésure - as one goes along

à l’eau de rose - sentimental, insipid, bland - usually refers to a book or movie.

à bout de souffle - breathless, out of breath; on its last legs

avoir l’air crevé - to look exhausted. 

avoir d’autres chats à fouetter - to have better things to do

ah la vache - holy cow, oh my god

avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventre - your eyes are bigger than your stomach

au pif -  a general estimate.

avoir le cafard - to lack morale, to be so bored that you’re depressed.

avoir la banane (pêche, patate) - to feel happy, to be in high spirits.

avoir une faim de loup - to be extremely hungry, to be starving

avoir une peur bleue de - to be scared to death of something, to be extremely terrified of something.

avoir la flemme - to be lazy.

aller au droit au but - to go straight to the point

bourrer le crâne - refers to an ill-informed individual

bouge ton cul! - move your ass, hurry up

boire comme un trou - to drink heavily.

brève de comptoir - a one liner

boire un coup - to have a drink

croire dur comme fer - to firmly, strongly believe

ça marche - that works, alright, okay.

ça craint - this/that sucks

ca lui prendre au bout de nez - he/she’s got it coming

ca va barder - shit is going to hit the fan

c’est la fin des haricots - it’s the end, there’s nothing left

casse-toi - get lost

c’est nickel - it’s all good, it’s spotless

c’est casse-couilles, c’est coton - it’s a pain in the ass

coûter les yeux de la tête - to cost an arm and a leg, to cost a fortune

con comme la lune - particularly stupid.

devenir chèvre - describes a state of extreme anger, rage

dire ses quatre vêrités - to tell it like it is.

en avoir marre (j’en ai marre) - to be fed up with something, someone

en avoir rien à foutre/faire -  to not give a shit, to not give damn

en avoir ras le bol - to be fed up with something, sick of something

être canon - to be hot, to fit someone’s standards of beauty

être crevé - to be extremely tired, exhausted

être en train de - be + ing

être paf, être ivre - to be drunk, to be stoned 

être chiant - to be annoying

être à l’ouest - to be spaced out

être mal en point - to be in a bad state

en prendre de la graine - to take a page from someone’s book

fais gaffe - watch out, be careful

faire une nuit blanche - to pull an all-nighter

faire flanelle - to abstain from doing something, to do nothing.

faire un tabac - to be a hit

faire une croix sur - to write something off, to kiss someone goodbye, to give up on

faire la sourde oreille - to turn a deaf ear, to pretend to ignore someone

faire le pont - to take a long weekend

faire la grasse matinée - to sleep in

friser le ridicule - to be a laughing stock

faire la tête - to sulk

jeter l’argent par les fenêtres - to splurge, to carelessly waste money

(jeter) un coup d’oeil - to take a look, to glance at something

larguer quelqu’un - to break up with someone

manger sur le pouce - to eat on the go

mettre du piment dans sa vie - to spice up one’s life.

mise en abyme - the story within, a story within a story

ne pas y aller de main morte - to not pull one’s punches

ne pas sorti de l’auberge - to be well and truly in it, to not be out of the woods

n’y voir que de feu - to be clueless

pleuvoir des cordes - to be raining cats and dogs

pleurer comme une madeleine - to cry your eyes out

prendre la téte - to drive crazy, to give yourself a headache

prendre son courage à deux mains - to summon the courage to do something

point barre! - period, that’s that

prendre quelqu’un la main dans le sac - to catch someone red-handed

prendre ses jambes à son cou - to run for one’s life

poser un lapin à quelqu’un - to stand somebody up

quelque chose qui cloche - to not add up, there’s something wrong

raconter des salades - to talk bullshit, to bullshit

ramener sa fraise - to join a conversation without being invited to do so, get your ass over here.

revenons à nos moutons - let’s get back on topic

s’envoyer en l’air - to get laid, to have sex.

sage comme une image - quiet as a mouse 

sur un coup de tête - on an impulse, on a whim

se casser la gueule - to hurt someone (/fall down), to smash someone’s face in [humor, loose translation]

sentir le sapin - to have one foot in the grave

se ronger les sangs - to be worried to death

se faire une belle jambe - to make oneself look good

s’en mettre plein les poches - to line your pockets.

ta gueule - shut up

tomber dans les pommes - to faint

tenir au courant - to keep up to date, to keep posted

tomber dans le panneau - to fall into a trap

tomber des nues - to be shocked, to be flabbergasted 

tout craché - spitting image

tourner au vinaigre - to get out of control, to get nasty

tu m’étonne - tell me something i don’t know. [ironic]

un coup de foudre - love at first sight

un suppôt de satan - hellbound, a minion of the devil

un froid de canard - to be icy cold

une bouchée de pain - for next to nothing

these are some works that my high school recommended to us for this year! i decided to type it up for you (:  a lot of them are really great, i bolded my favorites. the perfectionist in me didn’t like my last post (: novels

littérature étrangère littérature anglo-saxonne

paul auster, la trilogie new-yorkaise 

emilie bronte, les hauts de hurlevent

john fante, mon chien stupide

ernest hemingway, le soleil se lève aussi

henry james, le tour d’écrou  

edgard allan poe, histoires extraordinaires

georges orwell, 1984,

d. salinger, l’attrape-cœur 

littérature francaise 

emile ajar, la vie devant soi 

honoré de balzac, le père goriot 

albert camus, la peste, l’etranger, la chute 

louis-ferdinand celine, voyage au bout de la nuit 

philippe claudel, le rapport brodeck 

denis diderot, supplément au voyage de bougainville 

jean echenoz, je m’en vais 

gustave flaubert, madame bovary

andré gide, les faux-monnayeurs 

georges perec, les choses 

françois rabelais, gargantua, > humanisme 

raymond queneau, les fleurs bleues 

zazie dans le métro 

fred VARGAS, pars vite et reviens tard

emile zola, l’assommoir 

theatre 

jean anouilh, antigone 

beaumarchais, le barbier de séville, le mariage de figaro 

samuel beckett, en attendant godot

corneille, le cid, l’iIlusion comique 

victor hugo, hernani, ruy blas

eugene ionesco, la cantatrice chauve, le foi se meurt 

frederico garcia lorca, noces de sang

jean genet, les bonnes, les paravents 

jean giraudoux, electre, 

marivaux, le jeu de l’amour et du hasard

molière, tartuffe, le misanthrope, dom juan 

racine, britannicus, phèdre, dndromaque,

shakespeare, roméo et juliette, beaucoup de bruit pour rien, hamlet, le roi lear 

 julie jean tardieu, un mot pour un autre 

réecritures of the following works

les métamorphoses d’ovide

l’odyssée d’ulysse)

fables d’esope

fables de la fontaine

contes de grimm

poetry

guillaume apollinaire, alcools

louis aragon, les yeux d’elsa 

charles baudelaire, les fleurs du mal 

blaise cendrars, du monde entier 

victor hugo, les contemplations, les châtiments 

paul eluard, capitale de la douleur 

louise labbe, sonnets 

henri michaux, plume, l’espace du dedans 

francis ponge, le parti-pris des choses 

jacques prevert, paroles, histoires 

arthur rimbaud, les illuminations, une saison en enfer 

pierre de ronsard, les amours 

it’s me again! sorry back with another french masterpost - tips and tricks to help you better understand french education! i’m not french myself, (i study in france though - i will be entering my senior year fall 2017), but i’m going to try and explain the system as best as i can. little side note: it’s been four - five years since i’ve received american education, which is why i’m not particularly useful when it comes to succeeding in that regard. 

please let me know if you want more / less of these ‘french’ posts! i might do one on the french grading system - feed back is appreciated; this took awhile, please? (: disclaimer: this is from an american point of view. just my person opinion.

what is the french baccalauréat? 

it’s an academic qualification (a diploma) awarded by the French Ministry of National Education.

it marks the end of secondary studies (lycée) and allows you to pursue university education. 

it cannot be obtained in single subjects. 

basically, the bac is a national exam that covers all areas of study.

each test includes a series of essays or problems on issues requiring a thorough analysis : the french system is very strict and very hard - it’s designed to test how well you understand and apply your knowledge   acquired over the course of the final two years of lycée education - it is not about blindly reciting information memorized in a textbook.

it’s not something you can cram for in a day / week / month. 

in france, there are three main types of baccalauréat:

the baccalauréat général (general baccalaureate) - me 

the baccalauréat professionnel (professional baccalaureate) 

the baccalauréat technologique (technological baccalaureate). 

french-curriculum lycées based in canada, france and the united states offer the three sections of the general baccalauréat:

economics and social sciences (ES)

literature (L) - this is my section 

science and mathematics (S).

how is each subject valued in correspondance with each section? the students who sit for the baccalauréat général choose one of three sections (termed séries) in lycée (première, or eleventh grade). each section results in a specialization and carries different weights (coefficients) associated with each subject.

the bac S weighs the following subjects heavily:

mathematics, 

physics & chemistry, 

biology : you can choose bio or engineering sciences, not both

engineering sciences.  

the bac ES weighs the following subjects heavily:

economic and social courses  - SES 

mathematics. 

history  & geography (i think). 

the bac L weighs the following subjects heavily:

french literature

philosophy

history & geography, 

foreign languages  - i take english, spanish, and french. 

format 

takes place in june (with exception to the french oral)

for lycée students, this is the end of the last year, terminale 

most examinations are given in essay-form

you are given block of time (depending on the exam, from two to five hours) to complete a multiple-page, well-argued paper

example: my french test was four hours 

the number  of pages varies from exam to exam, but

typically all answers have to be written down, explained and justified

mathematics and science exams are problem sets but 

some science questions also require an essay-type answer. 

foreign language exams often include a short translation section as well.

the mathematics and the earth & life Sciences tests sometimes contain some multiple-choice questions 

in comparison to the english GCSEs / the american SAT,

french baccalauréat is not a completely standardised test. 

since most answers are given in essay form

the grades may vary from grader to grader 

especially in subjects like philosophy and french literature.

the essay section on the SAT is not the same thing

advantages:

challenging intellectual education 

teaching programs created by the french ministry of national education

majority of teachers are from france

quality education in french by the best North American universities

an international teaching environment

institutions that are part of an unparalleled global network

seriously, it’s hard; especially for people like me who struggle with french and aren’t from france 

how many people take it each year?