French expressions you won't learn at school
Expressions françaises en Anglais

A

Arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupe
About a remark in a conversation, to be completely irrelevant (literally: "to arrive like a hair in the soup")

Avoir le cul entre deux chaises
To be caught between two stools (literally: "to have one's ass between two chairs")

Avoir les jetons
To be scared (literally: "to have the tokens")

Avoir les chevilles qui enflent
To be very full of oneself (literally: "to have one's ankles swell")

Avoir un chat dans la gorge
To have a frog in one's throat (literally: "to have a cat in one's throat")

Avoir un poil dans la main
To be lazy (literally: "to have a hair in the hand")

C

Ça me fait une belle jambe
A fat lot of good that does me! (literally: "It makes me a nice leg")

Ça ne casse pas des briques
It has nothing to write home about (literally: "It doesn't break bricks")

Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard
It has nothing to write home about (literally: "It doesn't break three legs to a duck")

Ça vaut son pesant de cacahuètes
Ironical: That's priceless (literally: "It is worth its weight in peanuts")

D

Donner sa langue au chat
To give up a riddle (literally: "to give one's tongue to the cat")

E

En voir de toutes les couleurs
To be through the mill (literally: "to see some of all colors")

Être de mauvais poil
To be in a bad mood (literally: "to be of bad hair")

Enfoncer des portes ouvertes
To state the obvious (literally: "To break down open doors")

Être un peu long à la détente
To react slowly to something (literally: "To have a slow trigger")

F

Faire d'une pierre deux coups
To solve two problems with one solution (literally: "To do with one stone two hits")

Faux cul
Hypocrite (literally: "fake ass")

Faux jeton
Hypocrite (literally: "fake token")

J

Jeter un froid
To put a damper on things (literally: "to throw a cold)

L

La vache!
Expression of surprise (literally: "the cow!)

N

Ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillère
There is no half-measures with him/her (literally: "not to go there with the back of the spoon")

Noyer le poisson
To evade an issue (literally: "to drown the fish")

O

On n'est pas sorti de l'auberge
We are not out of the woods yet (literally: "We are not out of the inn yet")

P

Poule mouillée
Coward (literally: "wet chicken")

Prendre entre quatre z'yeux
To have an argument with someone (literally: "To take someone between four eyes")

S

Sauter du coq à l'âne
To jump from one subject to another (literally: "to jump from the rooster to the donkey")

S'en donner à coeur joie
To have a tremendous time (literally: "to give oneself heart joy")

T

Tiré par les cheveux
Far-fetched (literally: "pulled by the hair")

Tomber à plat
About a joke: not to trigger any reaction by the audience (literally: "to fall flat")