C'est du pain bénit (like manna from heaven)
This refers to something lucky or good that happens. The term is linked to the blessed bread given to the congregation during certain religious ceremonies. By its definition, the term refers to something that's sacred, highly beneficial for believers, and offered freely to everyone. A good opportunity for those in need.
C'est du pain bénit (like manna from heaven)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Gagner son pain à la sueur de son front (to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow)
This means to get enough money for the things you need by working hard. This expression refers to the medieval peasant world when nothing came easy. For their hard work, peasants were often only paid in bread, their staple foodstuff alongside their own, often meager, crop harvests.
Gagner son pain à la sueur de son front (to earn your bread by the sweat of your brow)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Un gagne-pain (a breadwinner)
In French, this refers to an activity, a job, or work through which someone earns the money needed to feed themself. Pain in this term refers back to bread's position as a diet staple or base food.
Un gagne pain (a breadwinner)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Faire passer le goût du pain à quelqu'un (to take the taste of bread from someone)
To kill someone. Here, as usual, bread is evoked in its capacity as the staple and essential foodstuff. By removing someone's ability to eat, we condemn them to death. No bread, no life.
Faire passer le goût du pain à quelqu'un (to take the taste of bread from someone)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Ça ne mange pas de pain (it doesn't eat bread)
This means to say or do something without any consequences. The expression harks back to a time when bread was the most important part of any peasant family's budget. Something that "doesn't eat bread" didn't have an impact on the family's survival, and therefore was insignificant.
Ça ne mange pas de pain (it doesn't eat bread)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Pour une bouchée de pain (for a mouthful of bread)
For next to nothing. Usually used to refer to an item purchased "for the price of a mouthful of bread," i.e., the smallest portion of a cheap foodstuff, so not a lot. It's practically given away!
Pour une bouchée de pain (for a mouthful of bread)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Commencer par manger son pain blanc (to start by eating your white bread)
To start doing something from the best or easiest part. Pain blanc (white bread) here refers to the kind of bread that was traditionally eaten by the rich. Poor people could only get this kind of bread on special days; otherwise, they would eat pain noir (black bread), which was made of lower-quality flour.
Commencer par manger son pain blanc (to start by eating your white bread)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Embrasser comme du bon pain (to hug like good bread)
To hug someone or hold them in your arms as a sign of affection. Just like how we appreciate bread, a daily meal of choice and a symbol of prosperity, we naturally want to embrace our loved ones.
Embrasser comme du bon pain (to hug like good bread)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Retirer le pain de la bouche de quelqu'un (to take the bread out of someone's mouth)
To take something necessary or vital away from someone. This expression refers to a past era when bread was the staple of a low-income family's diet and their main source of energy. To take away someone's bread was to starve them to death.
Retirer le pain de la bouche de quelqu'un (to take the bread out of someone's mouth)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Quelque chose qui se vend comme des petits pains (something selling like small loaves of bread)
The French equivalent of the phrase "selling like hotcakes," this means something that sells out easily and brings success. This expression, which came into common usage in the 20th century, refers to a baked good that is easy to sell. But it is also linked in Christian tradition to the Wedding at Cana when Jesus performs a miracle that multiplies the amount of bread and wine when there wasn't enough for the guests. By extension, the French expression petit pain (small loaf) has become a symbol of abundance.
Quelque chose qui se vend comme des petits pains (something selling like small loaves of bread)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Long comme un jour sans pain (Long like a day without bread)
A never-ending difficult situation. In the past, a day without bread meant a day without eating anything, where you would be tormented by hunger with no end in sight. By extension, this expression can also take a meaning of "something long" and can be applied to people or things that are tall and thin.
Long comme un jour sans pain (Long like a day without bread)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Un bon copain (a good friend)
The French term copain (friend) is etymologically made up of the terms co (together) and pain (bread). Literally, a copain is someone who you share bread with, by extension, a friend.
Un bon copain (a good friend)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Je ne mange pas de ce pain-là (I don't eat that bread)
To refuse to do something that you see as immoral. Refusing to eat bread that is being offered to you is a sign to the other person that they are not your friend, that you don't share their values or their opinions. It therefore signifies a refusal to act against one's sense of morals and values despite what has been offered.
Ça ne mange pas de pain (it doesn't eat bread)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Avoir du pain sur la planche (have bread on your plate)
A rare example of an expression where the meaning has changed to mean the opposite thing over time. It originally meant to not need to work because you had enough bread in reserve. Since then, it has taken on the opposite meaning and become synonymous with long and tedious tasks. This is supposedly in reference to the convicts' bread rations. The longer their sentence, the more bread was "on their plate."
Avoir du pain sur la planche (have bread on your plate)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Prendre un pain dans la gueule (to take a loaf to the face)
To get punched. This saying evokes the image of a fist in the shape of a small, round loaf of bread. It also brings to mind prisons in which men would fight by throwing stale bread at each other. The bread was served so stale that it needed to be soaked in water before it could be eaten. Prisoners were often fed on bread and water.
Prendre un pain dans la gueule (to take a loaf to the face)
Jean Pruvost, lexicologist and French language historian.
Vincent Ferniot
