1. Inutile de chercher midi à quatorze heures

No need to look for complications when there are none
When an opportunity is gone, it’s gone
People who are late for lunch shouldn’t complain that the pot is empty

2. Faire la peau à quelqu’un

To give someone a massage
To do somebody in
To apply suntan lotion to somebody’s back

3. Il lui a mis la main au panier

He stole her purse from her shopping basket
He felt her bottom
He married her

4. On m’a collé un papillon

I’ve got a parking ticket
I got a badge from someone collecting for charity
I’ve got butterflies in my stomach

5. Elle est dure de la feuille

She’s very stingy
She’s almost illiterate
She’s hard of hearing

6. Il est passé sur le billard

He arrived right on cue
He cut across the lawn
He had an operation

7. Elle n’arrête pas de buller en classe

She does sod all at school
She always gets bad marks at school
She keeps popping her bubble gum during lessons

8. Son frère marche à côté de ses pompes

His brother is always high on something
His brother is a bit screwed up
His brother never wears shoes and socks

9. Il a essayé de me bourrer le mou

He tried to pull the wool over my eyes
He tried to punch me in the face
He tried to get me drunk

10. Il a les dents longues, le nouveau comptable

The new accountant is a bit long in the tooth
The new accountant is very ambitious
The new accountant eats like a horse

11. Elle n’arrête pas de lâcher des perles

She’s a butterfingers
She keeps saying stupid things
She keeps breaking wind

12. Il a pris trois pruneaux dans le buffet

He was shot three times in the chest
He took three prunes from the cupboard
He hardly ate anything at the buffet

13. Pierre en pince pour ma sœur

Pierre has a crush on my sister
Pierre is always pinching my sister’s bottom
Pierre has been stealing in order to buy my sister presents

14. Son père travaille du chapeau

Her father is very sycophantic
Her father’s got a screw loose
Her father’s an intellectual

15. Son patron lui a passé un savon

His boss demoted him
His boss asked him to stop swearing
His boss told him off

16. Elle n’est pas à prendre avec des pincettes

She’s incredibly dirty
She’s very fat
She’s in a really foul mood

17. Il a un œil qui dit merde à l’autre

He always looks furious
He’s walleyed
He doesn’t get on with anyone

18. Tenir la chandelle

To play gooseberry
To burn the candle at both ends
To be very religious

19. Leur gros qui tache casse pas trois pattes à un canard

The chef doesn’t know how to prepare roast duck
The waiter spills everything he touches and is unbelievably slow
Their house red is nothing to write home about

20. On s’est fait une toile hier soir

We slept together last night
We went to an art gallery yesterday evening
We went to the movies last night