Pardon my French

French...

Toast, fries, bulldog, dressing, kiss, manicure, dip, onion soup, boxing, door, maid, hen (maybe that last one only in the 12 days of Christmas...)

Oh yes, indeed, there are many English expressions that can't survive without the "French" & when I moved to my dear island in Georgia a few years ago, all I could hear about were the famous allusions to my nationality (in addition to the now classics "Frenchy" or "Froggy").

Soon enough though, I was the one confusing my interlocutors with my own translations of French idiomatic expression into English. I remembered the look on my friends faces when I explained that I had a "elephant memory" or that the dress I wore cost me "the eyes of the head"...

So, amongst many others, here's a few ways to express yourself in French, or to understand the Frenchies when they are talking no sens...

"He let the cat out of the bag " - He sold the wick

"Speak of the devil" - When one talks of the wolf, one sees his tail

"They're like two peas in a pod" - They resemble each other like two drops of water

"We have other fish to fry" - We have other cats to whip

"We're all in the same boat'' - We're all in the same bath

"When pigs fly" - When hens have teeth

"She found Mr.Right" - She found the rare bird

"It's a godsend" - It fell from the sky

"A little bird told me" - my pinky told me

"To each his own" - to each his taste

"we're in a fine mess" - we're in a nice kneading dough