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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French phrase of the Day: Cadeau du ciel

A lovely expression which we hope you’ll have plenty of opportunities to use.

Published: 15 September 2021 13:00 CEST

French phrase of the Day: Cadeau du ciel

Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Why do I need to know cadeau du ciel ?

Because hopefully you’ll get one soon!

What does it mean?

Literally translated as ‘a gift from the sky’, un cadeau du ciel is an unexpected but very agreeable surprise. This can be anything from a new friendship to a lucky sports goal or a convenient political opportunity. You could even use it to describe a person who is, or has been, particularly important to you.

Ciel means ‘sky’, but it also has the same religious connotations as ‘the heavens’ in English.

Equivalents to the phrase cadeau du ciel in English include ‘heaven-sent’, ‘a gift from the gods’, ‘godsend’ or even ‘a blessing’.

Use it like this

La succession à la Cour suprême est un cadeau du ciel pour Donald Trump – The Supreme Court nomination is a godsend for Donald Trump.

L’amour est un cadeau du ciel – Love is a gift from the gods.

Ce genre de situation peut être un cadeau du ciel si vous savez tirer parti de l’occasion – This kind of situation can be a blessing if you know how to make the most of it.

Synonyms

Un don – a gift

Une bénédiction – a blessing

Tombé du ciel – heavensent (literally translated as ‘fallen from the sky’)

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French Expression of the Day: Les doigts dans le nez

Why do I need to know les doigts dans le nez?

Because you don’t need to be disgusted if a French person says this phrase near you.

What does it mean?

Les doigts dans le nez – roughly pronounced lay dwah dahn luh nay – translates precisely as ‘the fingers in the nose’.

However, it’s not related to picking your nose. It actually means ‘doing something with ease’. In English, one might say ‘piece of cake’ or ‘I could do it with my eyes closed’.

Though a popular colloquial expression nowadays, the phrase first began to be used in the early 1900s, after horse races – and originally was accompanied by a gesture. If a jockey handily won a race, the commentator might make this comment or add a gesture to jokingly comment on how easy the win had been.

These days the gesture seems to have fallen out of favour, so you won’t see French people stuffing their fingers up their nose to make a point, but the phrase remains.

It is meant to give the idea that the feat was so easy, it could be accomplished even with two fingers in your nose.

If you are looking for a similar expression, you could also say something was un jeu d’enfants (a children’s game), to describe it being simple and quick.

Use it like this

Ce type a terminé le marathon, les doigts dans le nez. Sérieusement, le gars s’est à peine entraîné et il est arrivé dans les dix premiers. – The guy finished the marathon, piece of cake. Seriously, he barely trained and still finished in the top 10.

Les deux premières semaines: les doigts dans le nez. Mais par la suite, les choses se sont compliquées. – The first two weeks: piece of cake. But after that, things became complicated.

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