Test your french with these nine expressions linked to insects

The best way to sound like a native speaker is to adopt their everyday terms and turns of phrases. Directly translating ‘the bee’s knees’ (_les genoux de l’abeille_) is not a good idea

because it does not mean anything in French, but the language does also have many expressions and phrases involving insects such as flies, fleas or wasps. Below are nine expressions

containing insects. We give you their meanings, where they come from and the context to use them in. METTRE LA PUCE À L'OREILLE If something “puts the flea in the ear”, it means that it

arouses suspicion and rings alarm bells. It can be traced back to the 17th century and it is linked to the itchiness of fleas. If your ear started itching, then you would have a horrible

feeling that would put you on guard. For example, if you heard something suspicious, you could tell your friend _ça m’a mis la puce à l’oreille_. It is a commonly employed expression and can

be used in any context. READ MORE: BOUILLON, SOUPÇON: TWO FRENCH CULINARY TERMS WITH OTHER MEANINGS PRENDRE LA MOUCHE Hundreds of years ago, _mouche_ could be used to describe various types

of insects, not just flies. In this case, it refers to a horsefly, which is called a _taon_ in French. Horsefly stings can be painful, so _prendre la mouche_ means to get annoyed or angry

very suddenly, often about a trivial topic. For a similar reason, the French say ‘_quelle mouche l’a piqué_’ (which fly stung him?) if someone gets angry, with _mouche_ likely meaning

horsefly in this case. After your friend flies off the handle, you can say _il a pris la mouche _(he took the fly). It is a more polite way of saying ‘he got pissed off’. MA PUCE Terms of

endearment can be quite random, whether in France or elsewhere. An example of this is _ma puce_, meaning ‘My flea’. The term is most often used for wives or daughters. When your partner

comes home from work, you can greet them with a tender _ça va ma puce_? (‘you ok sweetheart?’) LA CIGALE ET LA FOURMI If someone is referred to as a _cigale_ (cicada), it means that they

spend money without thinking about the future. The opposite goes for someone described as a _fourmi_ (ant), which refers to someone who plans carefully and sensibly for the future. The

meanings come from a fable by Jean de la Fontaine called _La Cigale et la Fourmi_. In the story, the cicada spends the summer singing while the ant prepares for the winter. When the cicada

goes to the ant to ask for food, the ant simply laughs and tells it to dance, as it loved singing during the summer so much. The _cigale_ to mean a frivolous spender is more common than the

_fourmi_, which might only be understood in conjunction in opposition to a _cigale_. It is not a commonly used oral expression (although _cigale_ is sometimes used), but you may hear the

terms in songs or read it in literature. READ MORE: ‘MONTRER PATTE BLANCHE’: FRENCH FAIRYTALE PHRASE FOR TRUSTWORTHINESS AVOIR LE BOURDON This expression means being sad or depressed and

thinking that nothing will go right. If you wake up depressed, you can say _j’ai le bourdon aujourd’hui _(I am depressed today). A _bourdon_ is a bumblebee but it is not clear whether the

expression and the insect are linked. One possible explanation is that the buzzing of the bumblebee is the noise that someone who is feeling depressed hears in their head. Another

explanation is that a _bourdon_ is also a type of bell in a church that rings out a deep noise and is rung in the case of the death of an important person or in remembrance of the fallen at

Toussaint, for example. It is also rung at Christmas or Easter. To make the origin of the meaning more unclear, _avoir le cafard_ is an equivalent expression that is often used, with

_cafard_ meaning cockroach. It is probably linked to the poor reputation that the cockroach has, being a symbol of dirt and squalor. GOBER LES MOUCHES _Gober_ means to swallow quickly and

without chewing while _mouche_ is the French word for fly so _gober les mouches_ means to swallow flies. The turn of phrase has three different meanings. It can be used to mean gawp or stare

with your jaw hanging open, and therefore letting flies fly down your throat. It can also mean someone who is extremely naive and believes anything they are told. In this case, the term

‘_un gobe-mouche_’ is used, literally a fly-swallower. The third meaning for _gober les mouches_ is when you let yourself be carried away by laziness and do nothing. _Compter les mouches_

(count the flies) or regarder les mouches voler (watching the flies fly) are also used as equivalents. If your partner is gawping at something, you can ask _pourquoi tu gobes les mouches

comme ça_? (why are you staring like that?) AVOIR UNE TAILLE DE GUÊPE In this phrase, _taille_ refers to waist rather than size. It can be translated as having an ‘hourglass figure’. It

dates back to medieval times, when corsets were used to give women their desired body shapes with very thin waists. If you see someone with an hourglass figure, you can say _elle a une

taille de guêpe_. It is used almost exclusively for women. JOUER LA MOUCHE DU COCHE Another expression taken from Jean de la Fontaine and his fables is _jouer la mouche du coche _(playing

the stagecoach fly). In _La Mouche et la Coche_ (the Fly and the Stagecoach), six horses are dragging a carriage up a sandy hill. They stop because they are tired and it is very difficult. A

fly comes along, buzzes in their ears and stings them, telling them to move. The passengers of the stagecoach get out to help get it up the hill. When eventually the horses are able to drag

the stagecoach to the top of the hill, the fly believes it was a considerable help and even asks for payment, despite in fact being a nuisance. Therefore, if someone does not actually

contribute but orders others around or claims to have contributed a great deal, you can tell them _tu joues la mouche du coche _(you are being the stagecoach fly). FIER COMME UN POU This

expression refers to someone who is overly proud or vain. A _pou_ is a lice but the _pou_ in question is a _poul_ which is a colloquial word to refer to a rooster. An equivalent expression

in English would be ‘proud as a peacock’. There is a phrase that uses _pou_ to mean lice, which is _laid comme un pou_ - as ugly as a lice. This refers to someone who is ugly. READ MORE

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