To Fall in the Trap! 10 French Idioms about Stupidity
Why do people need idioms for this? It’s a no-brainer, really.
Recently, I encountered a rude and incompetent sales clerk who refused to provide courteous assistance to a disabled relative of mine. When asked kindly for basic assistance, the sales clerk’s responses were nonchalant, defensive, and incorrect.
This reminded me that as a whole on planet Earth, as much as I would like to think otherwise, incompetence and stupidity appear to reign supreme as a universal cultural phenomenon pervasive throughout humankind.
What better proof of this than to explore how other languages refer to perceived lackluster courteous or intelligent behavior through their idioms?
Idioms, or those groups “of words in a fixed order that [have] a particular meaning that is different from the meanings of each word on its own,” are widely accepted as a succinct way to capture a familiar behavior.
How is stupidity captured linguistically the world over?
To begin, here are 10 French Idioms for the incompetent, lazy, rude, and just plain stupid.
1. Elle n’a pas inventé le fil à couper le beurre!
Direct Translation: She didn’t invent the wire to cut butter!
Figuratively: She’s not very bright.
2. Faire quelque chose comme un pied
Direct Translation: to do something like a foot
Figuratively: not to have a clue (how to do something)
3. Perdre la boule
Direct Translation: To lose the ball
Figuratively: to go off one’s rocker, to not think properly
“La boule is used colloquially for the head” (Pelissier & Lupson, 1987, p. 83).
4. Faire le Jacques
Direct Translation: to do the Jack
Figuratively: to act like a fool
5. Tomber dans le panneau
Direct Translation: to fall in the trap
Figuratively: to fall for it, to walk right into it
“In the Middle Ages ‘un panneau’ was a trap made of cloth or netting to catch game” (85).
6. Avoir une araignée au plafond
Direct Translation: to have a spider on the ceiling
Figuratively: to have a screw loose
7. Être bête comme ses pieds
Direct Translation: to be stupid like his (or her) feet
Figuratively: to be bonkers, to be too stupid for words
8. Mettre la charrue avant les boeufs
Direct Translation: to put the plow before the oxen
Figuratively: to put the cart before the horse, to get ahead of yourself
9. Mettre tous ses oeufs dans le même panier
Direct translation: to put all her (or his) eggs in the same basket
Figuratively: to put all one’s eggs in one basket ;)
10. Il n’en manque jamais une
Direct Translation: He never misses one
Figuratively: He blunders every time, he puts his foot in it.
“Une here stands for ‘une bêtise’ i.e., a blunder, something foolish” (85).
So the next time you encounter an imbecile out in the wild, know that you are not alone. Many imbeciles have spurred the evolution of insulting idioms throughout history that now echo through to the present day, and in multiple languages around the world!
All this, so that you might find them useful to express how you’re feeling.
As the opening photo shares, stupidity is not a disability, and if you’re an ignorant person, watch out, because these idioms are here to remind you of that.
Stupidity is a choice and one that shouldn’t be hard to make.
Just don’t be stupid. Duh.
Source: Lupson, J. P., & Pélissier, M. L. (1987a). Guide to French idioms: guide des locutions françaises. Passport Books.
