The hidden stories inside everyday idioms

Ask a French speaker how they are on a grey Sunday and they might tell you “j’ai le cafard” — literally, “I have the cockroach”. It means they are feeling low. Nobody using it is thinking about insects, of course. But for a learner meeting the phrase for the first time, the image is vivid, strange and slightly funny, and that is exactly why it sticks.

Idioms are small pieces of shared imagination. They tell you what a culture finds ordinary enough to make a metaphor of: animals, food, the weather, the kitchen table. In our classes we often find that a single good idiom sparks more conversation than a page of grammar, because everyone wants to know where it came from and whether their own language has something similar.

A small collection from around the school

Here are a few favourites our teachers like to share. The literal meaning is part of the fun; the real meaning is what you will need in conversation.

• French — “poser un lapin” (to put down a rabbit): to stand someone up.
• German — “Tomaten auf den Augen haben” (to have tomatoes on your eyes): to miss something obvious.
• Italian — “in bocca al lupo” (into the wolf’s mouth): good luck. The usual reply is “crepi!”
• Japanese — 猫の手も借りたい (neko no te mo karitai, “I’d even borrow a cat’s paws”): to be so busy you would take any help at all.
• Hindi — नौ दो ग्यारह होना (nau do gyarah hona, “to become nine two eleven”): to run off, to make a quick getaway.

Notice how often the body, animals and numbers appear. Some idioms have origins that are well documented; many others have several competing stories, and it is worth holding those loosely. Part of the pleasure is asking a native speaker what they imagine when they say it, and hearing an answer that is personal rather than definitive.

How to learn idioms without overdoing it

There is a temptation, once you discover idioms, to collect them like stamps and use them everywhere. A conversation stuffed with them can sound like a phrasebook. A better approach is to learn them for recognition first. Notice them in films, songs and conversation. When one appears naturally two or three times, it is probably common enough to try yourself.

It also helps to learn the situation along with the phrase. “In bocca al lupo” is said before an exam, an interview or a performance — not when someone is simply leaving the house. Our Italian teachers usually introduce it just before learners do their first short presentation, which tends to make the moment memorable.

Bring your own

One of the most enjoyable exercises we run is simple: each learner brings an idiom from their first language and explains it to the group in the language they are studying. It practises description, storytelling and a little humour all at once, and it reminds everyone that their own language is full of oddities too. We often do a version of this at Culture Lab evenings, where it tends to turn into a long and cheerful discussion.

If you would like to start with French, a good first step is to keep a small notebook of phrases that make you smile. You will be surprised how quickly it fills — and how often those are the phrases you remember a year later.