Le coin des branchés
(June - July 08)

From 1 to 36,000, a few expressions using numbers:

A la une = On the front page. A la une de tous les quotidiens aujourd’hui : le match de foot Lyon-Liverpool.
Faire d’une pierre deux coups = To kill two birds with one stone.
Deux opinions valent mieux qu’une = Two opinions are worth more than one.
A deux pas d’ici = Really close by. Viens me voir ! Tu peux venir à pied, j’habite à deux pas d’ici !
Couper la poire en deux = To agree to a mutually beneficial compromise.
Courir deux lièvres à la fois = To burn the candle at both ends.
C’est trois fois rien = It’s really nothing at all. Ne t’inquiète pas, c’est trois fois rien, il n’y a rien de cassé.
En deux temps trois mouvements = To do something very quickly, in the twinkling of an eye.
Etre haut comme trois pommes = To be very short.
Trois fois merde = An idiomatic expression often used to wish someone luck on an exam or something rather difficult. You can simply say Merde, but Trois fois merde makes it even stronger. It is considered bad luck to say Bonne chance in such situations.
Un de ces quatre = One of these days. On se fait un petit lunch un de ces quatre.
Couper les cheveux en quatre = To split hairs.
Se plier en quatre, se mettre en quatre = To bend over backwards. Il s’est mis en quatre pour finir à l’heure.
Se saigner aux quatre veines = idem. To make an enormous effort.
Etre tiré à quatre épingles = To be dressed to the hilt.
Ne pas y aller par quatre chemins = To cut to the chase, to get straight to the point.
Le quatre heures = The snack for children when they return from school around four o’clock. N’oublie pas ton quatre heures !
Dire ses quatre vérités = To tell someone exactly what one thinks, to be absolutely frank. Tu vas voir, je vais lui dire ses quatre vérités à lui, il est temps qu’il arrête son cinéma !
Monter les escaliers quatre à quatre = To climb stairs four at a time.

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Tomber les quatre fers en l’air = To fall flat on one’s back. Can also have a figurative meaning of falling in disgrace.
Cinq sur cinq = I read you loud and clear (from military communications terminology). Bien reçu, cinq sur cinq, pas la peine de répéter !
Le cinq à sept = A reference to the custom of meetings one’s mistress for a quick encounter between five o’clock and seven o’clock.
Tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche = To think long and hard before speaking.
La preuve par neuf = An easy way of checking a simple mathematical calculation. To cast out nines.
Le 13e mois = A thirteenth month of salary given to most French employees.
Vendredi 13 = Friday the thirteenth.
Merde puissance treize = An even stronger way of wishing someone good luck (see Trois fois merde above).
Chercher midi à 14 heures = To make things more complicated than they really are. Ne va pas chercher midi à 14 heures, dis-moi juste si je peux te voir ou pas !
Vingt-deux v’la les flics ! = Watch out, the cops are coming! An expression frequently used by the students during the May ’68 student uprising.
Se mettre sur son 31 = To wear one’s very best clothes.
Les 400 coups. Faire les 400 coups = To get into all kinds of mischief. Also the title of one of François Truffaut’s early films about a young boy who got into serious trouble. Il a bien l’âge de faire les 400 coups, ça lui passera !
36.000 = A number the French frequently use when referring to an inestimable number of things: – Que vas-tu faire ce week-end ? – Rester chez moi, il n’y a pas 36.000 choses à faire dans ce bled !

Roger Stevenson
French Accent Magazine - June-July 08

Deux dictées aux choix

We provide two dictées to chose according to your level in French:
one for beginners, and another one for intermediate level French .
Click on the link below to listen to each of them. Then try and write it without making any mistakes. You can compare it to the original text on page 36 of the magazine.


N.B.: It would be a good idea to read all the articles of this issue of French Accent before doing the dictation, as you will recognize many expressions.

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Children’s song written
by Frédéric, from Carambole
Chosen, illustrated and sung
by Alexandra