Video summary

Hi, it's Elisabeth from Hellofrench.

Welcome to a new French video.

The pot calling the kettle black.

Getting stood up.

It's not going to happen any time soon.

Here are a few expressions we'll be looking at today.

Let's take a look at 24 expressions used in everyday life by French speakers.

To help you revise these expressions, I've prepared a worksheet with sentences to complete, true/false questions and MCQs.

You can download this sheet free of charge by clicking on the link in the description.

If you want to take your French further, if you want to progress faster, I invite you to visit my online school, the School d'Hellofrench.

Whatever your level and needs, I'm sure you'll find the right course for you.

Among my courses, you'll find the basics for spending a few days in France, as well as a much more advanced course for learning to speak like a native.

If you have any questions about my online courses or about French, you can write to me at

I read all your emails.

This expression to take a step back can be used literally, exactly as it is intended, or figuratively.

When used literally, to step back means to go backwards.

For example, if I'm standing in front of the Eiffel Tower and I want to take a photo, but I can't see the whole thing because I don't have enough distance, I'll go back a little.

Now I can say: I'm taking a step back to see the whole Eiffel Tower.

Here, we're really taking the action of stepping back.

But most of the time, the expression is used figuratively.

Stepping back means looking at things in a different way, from a different angle.

Take some time out to analyze a situation.

Taking a step back usually helps you to put a situation into perspective, to realize that it's less serious than expected, or to make a big decision, to change things in your life.

For example, when you're in a relationship with someone and it's no longer going very well, you can say to the person: I need to take a step back from our relationship.

We need to think, we need to reflect, we need to analyze what's going on so we can make the right decision, so we can assess whether the situation suits us or not.

Or, for example, at work, if you're in a huge hurry every day, it can be a good idea to take a step back and put things into perspective.

For example, if you work for a site that sells sneakers and you don't reach your sales targets, you can step back and say to yourself: it doesn't matter, I'm not in the business of saving lives.

So it's not that serious.

Taking a step back, I realize that the situation isn't as bad as all that.

It's no big deal if I can't reach my goals up front.

Touch wood. It's an expression I love and use very often. Touch wood. This expression is mostly used by people who are superstitious, who have certain beliefs, who see favorable or unfavorable signs all around them.

I don't know if you're superstitious, but I'm a little superstitious.

I don't like, for example, going under a ladder, or I'm afraid to break a mirror because I'm told we'll have seven years of misfortune.

For example, if I have friends who are going to have a baby, I don't like to buy the gift before the birth.

I'm superstitious.

When you're superstitious, you can touch wood to prevent misfortune.

We ward off bad luck.

Knock on wood protects you from bad things that might happen.

We're going against a curse.

For example, I can say that Caroline has already failed her driving test four times. What's more, she needs it for her job. She's going to get fired if she doesn't get her license soon.

So I'm going to knock on wood and hope she passes her driving test. I'm going against a curse. I forgot to tell you, this is essential, when you use this expression, you have to accompany it with a gesture.

Find a piece of wood to touch.

To have a hair in your hand. A hair is what you have on your arms and legs. We have a hair here in our hand.

This expression simply means that we're lazy.

We're very, very, very lazy.

We're lazy, lazy for a girl.

We're a bit soft, we're not very ambitious.

In English, we say to be work shy.

It's a bit like being work-shy.

We don't really like it.

This expression is quite old.

It dates from the 19th century.

It was used to refer to people who were lazy, who didn't really like to work.

Back then, there was a lot of manual labor.

So little did we use our hands for work, that a hair could grow in them. In fact, I don't think it's really possible for hairs to grow in the palm of your hand.

A hair grows in the palm of your hand.

Here are two scenarios to help you better understand this expression.

Cynthia really has a hair in her hand.

She stays in her room all day playing video games and only goes out to eat the meals her mother prepares.

She really is lazy.

Here's some more context.

Pierre, my colleague, really has a hair in his hand.

He never does more than is asked of him.

He always does the minimum and never comes up with any additional ideas.

He's really lazy.

Long teeth.

The teeth in your mouth.

Long teeth, as if they were bigger.

Of course, we don't use this expression literally.

This expression is used figuratively.

You'll see, it's a pretty funny expression when it refers to this very image.

When you're talking about someone with long teeth, that's not a very positive thing.

It's a rather pejorative expression.

We use it to talk about someone who's really, really ambitious.

Having ambition is a good thing in life, but here, when we use the expression avoir les dents longues, it's not so positive because it means that we're prepared to do anything to succeed, to achieve our goals.

It is often used professionally.

It's said that someone with long teeth wants to go far professionally, for example in his company.

Originally, a very long time ago, I think it was in the 14th century, this expression was mainly used to say that you were hungry.

Long teeth meant hunger.

And little by little, the meaning of this expression was transformed.

Sometimes, in French, we also say that someone is really hungry to say that they are hungry for success.

He's very, very keen to succeed.

So that's certainly why this expression has been hijacked. Its use has been modified.

Hunger is seen as a metaphor for ambition.

Here's an example.

Jonathan really does have long teeth.

He'll do anything to succeed in the company, get promoted and become a manager.

He works day and night and is even prepared to speak ill of his colleagues to management.

Sometimes, when we talk about people who have long teeth, but even more than long teeth, we say in French: il a les dents qui rayent le parquet.

So long are its teeth, they touch the ground and make scratches on the floor.

That's really very, very, very ambitious.

It's an overweening ambition.

Stand up.

You've heard of a rabbit as the little animal.

When you stand someone up, it means you're not going on a date.

If I don't go on a date, I stand someone up, and if someone doesn't go on a date with me, they stand me up.

I got stood up.

It's often used for a romantic rendezvous or a date, but it can also be a business appointment, a meeting with a friend or a medical appointment.

For example, if I forget to go to a medical appointment, I can say that I stood my doctor up, that I completely forgot to go to that appointment.

Here are two contextualizations.

I had an appointment with a waiter at the restaurant at 8pm.

I waited for over an hour and he never came.

No one had ever stood me up like that.

What's more, he gave me no news and no explanation.

Here's a second example in a professional context.

I drove two hours to meet my client and she stood me up. She never showed up.

To take a rake. Literally, to take a rake means to take a rake. You see, it's a tool we use in the garden, often to pick up sills, and we take it in the head. The expression comes from this very image. You may have seen it in cartoons; it's a bit of a recurring gag.

Someone is walking and is going to step on part of the rake, which is on the ground, and the rake rises up and hits the person's head.

Of course, this colloquial expression is mostly used figuratively.

Taking a rake means we've tried to seduce someone, but haven't succeeded.

She didn't let herself be seduced, she put a stop to us.

She's not interested in us.

It's a rake.

It's kind of the same pain, except it's not a physical pain, but it's a pain in the heart.

It hurts to take a rake.

For example, if I'm walking down the street and a guy comes up to me and asks for my phone number and I say: no thanks, I'm not interested, I'm already in a relationship, he's going to say he's been raked over the coals and I've raked him over the coals.

Get your hands dirty.

The hand. And the dough, referring to the baker's dough.

When we say that we help, it simply means that we help someone or many people to do something.

Generally speaking, it's a rather tedious, tedious task.

So when we lend a hand, we help.

I'm going to give you two examples to help you better understand the expression and, above all, to help you use it yourself.

Here's a first example.

The whole family pitched in to cook Christmas dinner.

We all cooked together.

Here is a second context.

I clean the apartment by myself.

I'd like my husband to pitch in a bit, help me clean up, at least vacuum.

That goes without saying.

What does this mean?

It goes without saying, it simply means it's obvious.

We don't even have to say it. It goes without saying.

It's that something is so obvious that it's not even worth using your saliva to say it.

For example, if I'm in a restaurant and the person I'm with and I both have a sweet tooth, we love to eat, I'll ask the person: Can we have dessert? And the person will most likely answer: "That goes without saying.

To say that it's obvious we're going to have dessert.

It's implied, it's a silly question, it's so obvious.

Another example: if you send your wife or husband, your boyfriend, your girlfriend, a friend, out shopping and you've asked him to take milk, when he comes back, if you ask him: did you take milk? He'll say: "That goes without saying. That's why I went to the shops, mainly.

So it's obvious that he's taken some.

This expression is often used by the French people who welcome you into their homes.

So, if you go to a French dinner party, or if you go for a snack or a coffee, it's an expression that the French will come up with very easily.

The expression is: "Make yourself at home". Or "make yourself at home" if you're addressing more than one person, or if you're addressing someone in a formal manner.

When someone comes to you and you want them to feel good, to feel at home, you say: make yourself at home.

So consider my house your house.

For example, if I have a friend coming over and she asks me: can I have a glass of water?

I'll tell him: make yourself at home. The glasses are right there.

It means: you can serve yourself, you can take a glass and put water in it.

Here's some more context.

If a group of friends arrives home for dinner and they ask me: do you want us to take off our shoes or leave them on, I can tell them: make yourself at home, do as you feel most comfortable.

That means I leave the choice up to them.

I tell them you do what you do at home.

If you want to take your shoes off, you take them off. If you want to leave them on, you leave them on.

No big deal.

A subscriber asked me what this expression means in a comment. So today we're going to look at it together, because it's an expression that can be of interest to everyone.

It simply means, without looking like it, as if nothing had happened.

We use it when something is different from what we imagined.

Mine is appearance, it's air.

This expression is used to express that appearances can be deceptive, that the result is different from what was expected.

You'd think they wouldn't, but in fact they do.

I'll give you some context, which will really help you understand. For example, if I hardly studied for my French exam and I still got 16 out of 20, I can say: I hardly studied for my exam, but I still got 16 out of 20.

It's a result we didn't necessarily expect.

Here's another example, another context.

If it's winter and I'm at home, I feel like it's cold outside, but when I go outside, there's still a bit of sunshine.

So I could say: "It looks like nothing, but it's still sunny. Or: "There's a lot of sun despite the clouds.

I'm afraid of getting a sunburn.

And finally, here's one last bit of context.

Wow! You're already married with two kids?

In all seriousness, I've already been in a relationship with Thibault for 10 years, so time flies.

So, it seems that the time passed quickly without us really realizing it.

Turning the page.

I don't know if you're familiar with this expression, but it simply means moving on, moving forward.

You could even say that you close the book. It means we're moving on to another stage in our lives, or leaving something or someone behind.

Here are a few contextualizations to help you better understand the term.

For example, I could say: Greg has completely moved on with Maeva. It's over, he doesn't love her anymore, he'll never get back together with her.

Here's some more context.

For example, if I have a friend who was a singer in her youth, I could say to her: don't you miss your singing career?

And she can tell me: no, I've completely turned the page on my singing career. I'm now a chef and I love my new job. I've turned the page, it's behind me.

It's seen it all before.

I love to use this expression, I use it very often.

We use it to talk about something that's not very original.

It's been said over and over again.

That means it's really not original, we've seen it all before.

It's not something new or innovative.

For example, if I'm watching TV and I see an advert with a story that's been seen ten times before, for example, for laundry products, I can say: it's been seen over and over again. They should change the story a bit.

We use it to say that an idea is a bit lame, that we have already seen it everywhere, that it has already been done many times.

Here are some more contextualizations.

For example, if I say I don't have a gift idea for my boyfriend, a friend might say: you could buy him a perfume.

Me, I'm going to say: oh no, not a perfume, it's seen and seen again.

That means it's really a very basic gift that anyone can make.

Here is a second context.

If I'm having guests over and I need to find a dessert to make, and my husband says: we could make an apple crumble for dessert, I'm going to say: Oh no, crumbles have been seen and seen again. You see them all the time. I'd like to do something a little more original.

I'll give you one last bit of context I saw on Instagram.

There's an Instagram account called Vinted's Ballbreakers.

Casse-couilles is a very vulgar expression in French.

It's a synonym for boring, meaning annoying people.

Here, it lists people who are boring on vintage.

You see, this is the network where you can buy and sell clothes.

Here, we have a conversation between a seller and a buyer and the person who wants to buy does not make any sentence.

She only answers with very small words.

The sales assistant asks her if she can't make sentences.

You can see it here, it's on the group.

The description of this image is: people making sentences, it's seen and seen again. Here, of course, it's ironic, second-degree.

The point is: why be like everyone else? We've already seen a lot of sentences, so we might as well be a little more original in the way we write.

Like I said, it's a joke.

Pacing. Let me know in the comments if you've heard it before, or maybe even used it.

This expression kind of means what it says.

We walk a lot, waiting for something.

We're impatient for a situation to happen, we're stressed, we may be waiting for news, for example.

We'll be walking and pacing, so we'll be walking.

Walking in the meantime helps to make time go by a little faster.

I'm going to give you a little background to help you understand the expression better and, above all, how to use it yourself if you've never used it before.

For example, if my grandfather is having surgery and I'm in hospital waiting for news, I can say I'm walking 100 paces in the hospital corridors waiting for news of my grandfather.

I'm a little stressed, so I'm going for a walk to make the time go by faster.

Here's a second, slightly happier context.

I've been pacing since 8pm, I'm having a party tonight and my guests are already 30 minutes late.

So, it allows me to be patient.

I'd rather be on the move than waiting statically, motionless.

Here's a final bit of context.

I've been pacing back and forth all morning waiting for my son's baccalaureate results.

Une fois toutes les lunesc is an expression that simply means very rarely.

This expression is used to talk about something that happens very infrequently, almost never.

I'm going to give you some background information to help you understand the expression and, above all, so that you can use it yourself.

Here is a first context.

I'm almost a vegetarian.

I only eat meat once every moon.

This means that most of the time, I don't eat meat, and that really, three times a year, I'll go out of my way and eat a little meat.

Here is a second context.

Sure, you'll figure it out.

I clean the house by myself. My husband only does the dishes once every moon.

It's not going to happen any time soon.

Tomorrow is the day after and the day before is the day before that.

What does it mean to say: "It's not going to happen any time soon"?

This expression means that something is not about to happen.

Maybe something will happen, but not for a very long time.

So it's not going to happen any time soon.

It's something that... It's like it's never going to happen.

I'm going to give you some context, because this expression is a bit complicated.

This will help you to understand better, and above all, you'll be able to use it in sentences.

Here's a first example.

Clara and Pierre separated a year ago and Pierre still cries every day.

He's not going to forget her any time soon.

So it's not going to happen any time soon.

And here is a second context.

I'm not going to be able to take a vacation any time soon.

I have so much work to do.

I work every day until 10 p.m. and start at 7 in the morning.

I have no idea when I'll be able to take a vacation.

So I'm not going to be able to rest any time soon.

Be on your toes.

Being on the ball is a colloquial expression for being super-motivated. That you're full of energy, as if you'd drunk 10 Red Bulls or taken plenty of vitamin C.

We're bursting with energy.

For example, if I had a job interview this morning, I can say: I was on my toes during the interview.

I answered all the questions superbly.

I'm sure I'll get the job. I was too motivated to get this job.

There's no photo.

First of all, I'll explain what this expression means, give you a little context and explain where this expression comes from, what the origin of the expression "il n'y a pas photo" is.

When we say that there is no photo, we mean that there is no debate.

It's very clear.

We have a choice to make, it's very clear, there's no photo, we know what to do or what we prefer, it's crystal clear.

There's no hesitation.

Here are two contextual explanations to help you better understand the expression, so that you too can use it.

For example, if I'm hesitating between two dresses, I'll ask a friend: do you prefer the blue dress or the red dress?

She can tell me: There's no photo. Red suits you much better.

There's no need to hesitate.

Here is a second context.

For example, I can say that there's no difference between working for a multinational or a small start-up. I prefer to work in a small family team.

So there's no hesitation. It's very clear.

I don't know if you've heard, but when we speak, often instead of saying: il n'y a pas, we'll say: Y a pas.

It's a kind of contraction of the tongue.

It's in the way you talk.

We'll delete the first part, i.e.: Il n'y et on va juste garder y a pas photo. Of course, to speak correctly in the purest language, you have to say: Il n'y a pas photo, but most people will say: Y a pas photo.

But where does this expression come from?

This expression actually comes from horse racing.

In order not to make the bettors angry because they felt that their horse had to win, the race organizers paid photographers to show which horse came first.

Sometimes there was no debate at all, and the horses were far apart. So, we'd say: there's no photo.

That's where the expression comes from.

Choose three cards at random.

Didn't you understand what I asked you?

That's the expression we're going to look at today: on the spur of the moment.

Au pif is an expression that means randomly.

When I ask you to pick three cards at random, I'm asking you to pick three cards blind, at complete random.

This expression can also be used loosely.

It's not really by chance, but it's all there in plain sight.

We evaluate without really knowing.

For example, I could ask you: how far do you think the distance between me and the library is?

You might reply: a hunch, three meters.

That means it's pretty approximate.

You don't really know, but you say a bit randomly, as it seems to you, as it seems to you, but of course, you don't have a meter to measure.

For example, you can also often use this expression in cooking.

If you don't have a scale to weigh the ingredients, you'll be making a recipe that's a bit haphazard.

You might say: I didn't have a scale, so I just added the sugar, flour and milk as I saw fit.

I did the best I could without really being able to measure it.

The pot calling the kettle black.

The pot calling the kettle black.

If you say "the pot calling the kettle black", the expression is really very, very colloquial.

While it's the pot calling the kettle black, it can be used in more contexts.

But what does this expression mean?

When we use it, we mean to say to someone who reproaches us or points out a fault, when that person also has that fault, is also doing something wrong.

You will certainly understand better with some context.

For example, if I've eaten all the potato chips in my house and someone blames me, my husband will blame me.

He's going to say: "Have you eaten all your chips?

I'll tell him it's the pot calling the kettle black.

You ate all my yoghurt.

You see, someone reproaches me, but I find that this person is no better than I am, making the same mistakes as me.

So I'm going to tell him: it's the pot calling the kettle black.

Here's some more context.

For example, at work, I can say: my boss reproaches me by saying that I take too long a lunch break at noon when I only take an hour.

It's like the pot calling the kettle black.

He leaves every day at noon and returns at 2 pm.

It takes twice as long.

The pot calling the kettle black.

He reproaches me and he does the same thing, even worse.

Drinking shots.

Health.

Boire des coups is simply an expression that means to drink a glass, to drink glasses.

It's when you spend a convivial moment with friends or family, for example, and have a few drinks.

You can have a Coke, a beer or a glass of wine.

The idea is just to spend some time together, either in a bar - it's often a bar where you go for a drink - or in an apartment, at a friend's place, at your lover's house.

It's all about having a good time and sharing.

I'm going to give you two little contextualizations to help you understand the expression so that you can use it.

For example, if I ask a colleague what he did this weekend, he might say: I didn't do much, I just went out for a few drinks with friends.

Another example might be if someone writes me a quick message asking if I'm available, I can reply: no, I'm making a YouTube video, but if you like, we can meet up afterwards for a drink at the little bar down the road.

The expression is like a snake biting its own tail.

This means we're in a vicious circle.

We're in a situation where we're having trouble getting out of it. Or we're in a situation where element A depends on element B, and then needs element A.

We're actually shooting.

We don't know how to get out of it.

I'll give you some context.

I think it will be much easier to understand and, above all, easier for you to use the expression yourself.

Here is a first context.

In France, to open a bank account, you need pay slips, but to receive your salary, you need a French bank account.

I can't get my salary because I don't have a bank account, but he can't open a bank account because I don't get a salary.

So it's a case of the snake biting its own tail.

We don't know where to start.

We're in an infinite circle.

Drown the fish. This expression is a little strange because it's impossible to drown a fish.

Fish breathe in water.

Let's take a look at what this expression means, put it into context and, above all, where it comes from. When we say we're trying to drown fish, we mean we're trying to divert a conversation.

In a conversation with someone, a subject comes up and you don't want to talk about it, or you're really trying to divert the conversation so that it doesn't come up again, because either it bothers you, it embarrasses you, or you're not allowed to talk about it because you promised someone that you weren't going to talk about it.

So you're really trying to bury the fish.

You try to bury the subject and move on to another topic in the conversation.

I'll give you some context to help you understand.

Here is a first context.

It's often said that politicians try to drown the fish when they don't have the answer to a question.

If you ask a politician how much a metro ticket costs in Paris, he might reply: ah, the important thing is not how much a metro ticket costs, but how much we can reimburse the people who take the metro every year.

As you can see, he drowned the fish perfectly.

In fact, he didn't know how to answer the question, so he diverted the conversation. He hid the fact that he didn't know how to answer by changing the subject a little.

Having a slump means feeling a little depressed, experiencing temporary fatigue. You're not in great shape.

It can be physical or psychological, but we're not... We're having a slump. I'm going to give you a few contextualizations to help you better understand the expression and, above all, be able to use it on your own.

Here is a first context.

I had a bit of a slump after lunch.

I'd eaten too much and just wanted to sleep, not work.

Here's a second example.

Whenever I'm feeling a bit down, I watch a Jim Carrey movie and I feel a lot better, a lot happier and more positive.

And finally, here's one last bit of context to help you understand. Whenever I'm feeling a little down because I miss my family, I call them on Skype on video, and right away, things get a lot better.

A hard blow.

There are many expressions in French using the word coup.

It's not a very cheerful expression.

It's a rather negative expression.

It means we're going through a trial, we're going through something quite difficult.

It's a really bad time, it's something that's happening to us that's really not cheerful, that's really not joyful.

Something sad is happening to us.

We could say, for example, that to get through life's rough patches, you need to be very positive.

A hard blow can be, for example, the death of a loved one, it can be losing your job, it can be failing an exam, or it can be...

What could it be?

It could be, for example, a separation from a lover, a difficulty that comes our way, a trial.

I'm going to give you two contextualizations to help you better understand the expression and, above all, so that you too can use it in sentences when speaking in French.

Here is a first context.

I was laid off from my job last March.

It was a real blow for me.

It took me several months to get over it.

Here is a second context.

Belgium's soccer team has been eliminated by France at the World Cup.

It was a real blow for the Belgians, who had already set their sights on the World Cup final.

That's it, the video is finished.

I hope you enjoyed it and learned some new expressions.

If so, put a "like" on it.

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I'll see you soon.