Why Idioms Matter for TCF Canada
Native French speakers — including those in radio broadcasts, podcasts, and conversations that appear on TCF Canada — use idioms constantly. Recognizing them in listening tasks and using them naturally in speaking and writing tasks is a strong signal of B2+ proficiency.
Here are the 50 most important French idioms grouped by category.
Body Parts
| Idiom |
Literal |
Meaning |
| Avoir le cafard |
To have the cockroach |
To feel down / depressed |
| Avoir le coup de foudre |
To have the lightning bolt |
To fall in love at first sight |
| Casser les pieds à quelqu'un |
To break someone's feet |
To annoy someone |
| Avoir la tête dans les nuages |
To have your head in the clouds |
To be a daydreamer / distracted |
| Se creuser la tête |
To dig into one's head |
To rack your brain / think hard |
| Donner un coup de main |
To give a hand stroke |
To give someone a hand / help |
| Ne pas avoir froid aux yeux |
Not to have cold eyes |
To be bold / fearless |
| Coûter les yeux de la tête |
To cost the eyes from the head |
To cost an arm and a leg |
| Avoir le bras long |
To have a long arm |
To have connections / influence |
| En avoir plein le dos |
To have a full back |
To be fed up / sick of something |
Animals
| Idiom |
Literal |
Meaning |
| Quand les poules auront des dents |
When hens have teeth |
When pigs fly / never |
| Poser un lapin à quelqu'un |
To put a rabbit on someone |
To stand someone up |
| Il pleut des cordes |
It's raining ropes |
It's raining cats and dogs |
| Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter |
To have other cats to whip |
To have other fish to fry / more important things |
| Donner sa langue au chat |
To give your tongue to the cat |
To give up guessing |
Food and Drink
| Idiom |
Literal |
Meaning |
| Avoir la pêche / la patate |
To have the peach / potato |
To feel great / be full of energy |
| Raconter des salades |
To tell salads |
To tell lies / nonsense |
| Avoir du pain sur la planche |
To have bread on the board |
To have a lot of work ahead |
| Mettre de l'eau dans son vin |
To put water in one's wine |
To tone it down / be less extreme |
| Ce n'est pas la mer à boire |
It's not the sea to drink |
It's not that difficult / it's not a big deal |
Feelings and Situations
| Idiom |
Literal |
Meaning |
| Être dans la lune |
To be in the moon |
To be distracted / daydreaming |
| Avoir le moral dans les chaussettes |
To have one's morale in one's socks |
To feel really low / depressed |
| Ne pas être dans son assiette |
Not to be in one's plate |
To not feel well / to be off |
| Se faire du souci |
To make worries for oneself |
To worry |
| Avoir le trac |
To have the trac |
To have stage fright / nerves |
| Se mettre en quatre |
To put oneself in four |
To go out of one's way / bend over backwards |
| Tomber dans les pommes |
To fall into the apples |
To faint |
Work and Effort
| Idiom |
Meaning |
| Se retrousser les manches |
To roll up one's sleeves (same as English!) |
| Brûler la chandelle par les deux bouts |
To burn the candle at both ends |
| Faire d'une pierre deux coups |
To kill two birds with one stone |
| Mettre les bouchées doubles |
To speed up / work twice as hard |
| Avoir le vent en poupe |
To have the wind at one's back / to be doing great |
Social and Communication
| Idiom |
Meaning |
| Tourner autour du pot |
To beat around the bush |
| Appeler un chat un chat |
To call a cat a cat / to call a spade a spade |
| Parler dans le vide |
To speak into a void / talk to no effect |
| Jeter de l'huile sur le feu |
To pour oil on the fire / to make things worse |
| Prendre la parole |
To take the floor / to start speaking |
Time and Urgency
| Idiom |
Meaning |
| Mettre les points sur les i |
To dot the i's / to be perfectly clear |
| Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué |
Don't count your chickens before they hatch |
| C'est la croix et la bannière |
It's a real hassle / very complicated |
| Petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid |
Little by little the bird builds its nest / slow and steady wins the race |
| Au pied levé |
At short notice / immediately / off the cuff |
Commonly Heard in Canada
| Expression |
Meaning |
Note |
| C'est le boutte ! |
It's awesome! |
Quebec French slang |
| Être dans le trouble |
To be in trouble |
Quebec French (from English "trouble") |
| C'est correct |
It's fine / OK |
Standard in Canada, not "it's correct" |
| Bienvenue ! |
You're welcome! |
Used as "de rien" in Canadian French |
These 50 idioms cover the most common expressions you will encounter in real conversations, radio segments, and exam listening tracks. Focus on understanding them first — using even 5-10 naturally in your speaking tasks will significantly boost your TCF/TEF speaking score.
Want to build exam-ready vocabulary around this topic? Check out our TCF vocabulary lists.