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FRENCH WORD OF THE DAY

French expression of the day: Ce n’est pas sorcier

Need to get sarcastic with someone in French? Here's a great expression for that.

French expression of the day: Ce n'est pas sorcier

Why do I need to know ce n'est pas sorcier?

Is there someone in your life that is over-complicating things and putting unnecessary obstacles in the way? This is what you need to tell them.

What does it mean?

In French un sorcier is a wizard (a witch is une sorcière). So for example Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone/Sorcerer's Stone appeared in French as Harry Potter à l'école des sorciers (Harry Potter at the wizards' school).

So with ce n'est pas sorcier, or in its more slangy form c'est pas sorcier you're literally telling someone that it's not wizardry or not magic.

But it better translates as 'it's not rocket science' – ie you're telling the person that they're dumb and making something way too complicated.

So you could say Le changement climatique existe. C'est déprimant, mais ce n'est pas sorcier – Climate change exists. It's depressing, but it's not rocket science.

Accrocher les serviettes pour les faire sécher – c'est pas sorcier! – Hang the towels up to dry – it's not rocket science!

Or if you really want to unleash your fury onto someone who is putting unnecessary obstacles in your way Comme je l'ai déjà dit, ce n'est pas sorcier, c'est très clair – as I already said, this is not rocket science, it's very simple.

As is hopefully clear, this is not a particularly polite phrase, it's sarcastic at best and downright offensive at worst so we wouldn't suggest using it unless you have exhausted all of the more reasonable forms of persuasion.

You will probably feel like using it repeatedly as you navigate your way through French bureaucracy, but it is unlikely to get your paperwork processed any faster, so it might be better to just swallow your rage, explain the situation again and then do some deep breathing exercises and go to your happy place. 

 

 

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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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