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WORD OF DAY

French word of the day: Ne pas mâcher ses mots

This is something of a trait among French people so it's as well to know the phrase for it.

French word of the day: Ne pas mâcher ses mots
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Why do I need to know ne pas mâcher ses mots ?

Because applying this expression to your life can make things clearer.

What does it mean ?

Mâcher means to chew, and mots means words.

The idea behind the expression is letting the words come out of your mouth without thinking about what you want to say, which will probably result in a very frank speech.

The opposite of this expression, mâcher ses mots, is also very common. It means that you are taking the time to choose your words wisely.

For instance, adding et je mâche mes mots at the end of a sentence is a way of emphasizing your attempt at being fair and objective in your judgement.

So saying that somebody ne mâche pas ses mots means that their way of speaking is very up-front and honest, perhaps too honest. This is something of a trait in France, which you need to be aware of before asking a French person whether your bum looks big in your new trousers.

Use it like this

Mon médecin ne mâche pas ses mots quand il parle de la situation sanitaire en France – My doctor does not mince his words talking about the French health situation.

Elle lui a enfin dit la vérité, sans mâcher ses mots  – She finally told him the truth, she did not pull any punches.

Synonyms

Parler franchement – to speak frankly

Etre cash – to be direct  

Appeler un chat un chat – to say it the way it is  

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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French Expression of the Day: Caillou dans la chaussure

This one might come in handy when you’re complaining about French bureaucracy.

French Expression of the Day: Caillou dans la chaussure

Why do I need to know Caillou dans la chaussure?

Because, sometimes, you just need to tell someone about your frustration with life’s little, annoying, metaphorically painful niggles.

What does it mean?

Caillou dans la chaussure – roughly pronounced kay-oo don la shass-your – translates as ‘stone in the shoe’, is a phrase as old as time, and means exactly what it says.

You can use this in a literal sense, for example if you’re hiking and get gravel in your boots, but it’s more usually used as a metaphor.

When someone says they have a pebble in their shoe, it means that something is not right – and it describes the metaphorical feeling of something troublesome that is more painful than it really needs to be and is creating bigger problems than its size would suggest.

You can use it about your own problems, and it’s also used to describe something that is a big problem for someone else – in English you might say something is the ‘millstone around their neck’ to describe a big, weighty problem that won’t go away.

Use it like this

Nouvelle-Calédonie : le gros caillou dans la chaussure de Macron – New Caledonia is the millstone around Macron’s neck

Nous connaissons tous cette sensation désagréable d’avoir un caillou coincé dans notre chaussure – We all know that unpleasant feeling of having a stone stuck in our shoe.

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