Idioms, literally
A free French idioms quiz, scored on the page. Poser un lapin, avoir le cafard: expressions whose literal translations are nonsense, and whose real meanings you either know or you don’t.
Nobody is actually whipping cats
Fifteen everyday idioms, from poser un lapin to tomber dans les pommes. Each one has a literal reading that leads straight into a wall: pick what French speakers actually mean.
Step 1 / 3
French idioms quiz: rabbits, cockroaches, chance
The quiz tests common French idioms that resist word-for-word translation: poser un lapin (to put down a rabbit: to stand someone up), avoir le cafard (to have the cockroach: to feel down), coûter les yeux de la tête, tomber dans les pommes. Learners get these wrong because the literal reading is a trap by design. Context rarely saves you either: when a colleague says elle m’a posé un lapin, no rabbit appears to help you.
Guess first, laugh at the literal translations, then study the answer key: each idiom comes with its real meaning and a usage note, because some are conversational staples and others sound dated. Retake the quiz in a week; idioms stick fast once the image is attached. The Learning Center has full guides on French expressions if you want the long version. The French Briefing serves daily reading where these idioms show up in real sentences.
What does « poser un lapin » mean?
To stand someone up: agree to meet, then not show. « Il m’a posé un lapin » means he never came. The origin is debated; one theory ties it to 19th-century slang where a lapin was a payment dodged. Nothing to do with actual rabbits today, and it is completely standard conversational French.
What does « avoir le cafard » mean and where does it come from?
To feel down, to have the blues. Literally, to have the cockroach. Baudelaire helped popularise cafard as dark thoughts in Les Fleurs du mal, and soldiers in North Africa spread the expression. Usage: « J’ai le cafard ce soir. » Mild and common; it describes a mood, not clinical depression.
How many French idioms should I actually learn?
For conversation, a working set of 30 to 50 covers most of what you will hear: poser un lapin, tomber dans les pommes, avoir la flemme, ce n’est pas la mer à boire. Prioritise recognition over production. Using one idiom correctly impresses; forcing five into a paragraph does the opposite.
