Language/French/Vocabulary/Bird
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The birds: les oiseaux
Bird Words
| English | French Translation |
|---|---|
| hummingbird | colibri |
| blackbird | merle |
| rooster | coq |
| crane | grue |
| dove | colombe |
| eagle | aigle |
| falcon | faucon |
| nightingale | rossignol |
| ostrich | autruche |
| owl | hibou |
| partridge | perdrix |
| peacock | paon |
| penguin | pingouin |
| pigeon | pigeon |
| raven | corbeau |
| robin | rouge-gorge |
| sparrow | moineau |
| stork | cigogne |
| swallow | hirondelle |
| swan | cygne |
| turkey | dindon |
| vulture | vautour |
| canard | duck |
| poule | chicken |
Expressions with birds
Comme un coq en pâte
- Literally: Like a rooster in dough
- Meaning: who has a comfortable and cozy existence
- Example: “Quand il est chez sa grand-mère, il est comme un coq en pâte.”
“When he’s at his grandmother’s, he’s like a rooster in dough.”
Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps
- Literally: One swallow doesn't make spring
- Meaning: One swallow doesn't make a summer
The proverb has two possible meanings:
- Do not draw conclusions from a single fact or a single element.
- And, more generally: one must not rely too quickly on appearances; One person is not enough to achieve a major goal.
Politique de l'autruche
- Litterally: the ostrich policy
- Meaning: Refusal to accept danger.
- Origin: This expression recalls the legend that ostriches burrow their heads in the sand when they are afraid, which prevents them from seeing what threatens them.
- Example: "Appliquer la politique de l'autriche" means that one refuses to see the danger where it is.
Un froid de canard
- Litterally: cold of a duck
- Meaning: A big cold
Être un vautour
- Litterally: "be a vulture"
- Meaning: "be ruthless"
- Synonymous: être un requin (be a shark)
Être le dindon de la farce
- Litterally: "Being the stuffing turkey"
- Meaning: Getting caught up in a case.
Être une poule mouillée
- Litterally: Be a wet hen
- Meaning: Be a coward
- Closest English expression: Be a chicken
C'est la poule qui chante qui a fait l'œuf
- Litterally: The singing hen has laid the egg
- Meaning: The one who has just made a mistake or acted fooly speaks the loudest
- Closest English expression: the guilty dog barks the loudest
Un cygne noir
- Literally: a black swan
la bouche en cul de poule
Tuer la poule aux oeufs d’or
canard boiteux
Ne casser 3 pattes à un canard
passer du coq à l’âne
Gai comme un pinson
Miroir aux alouettes
Bayer aux corneilles
Bavard comme une pie
C’est chouette !
A vol d’oiseaux
Faire le pied de grue
être le dindon de la farce
être pris pour un pigeon
T’es un vrai perroquet !
la bave du crapaud n’atteint pas la blanche colombe
triple buse !
Une cervelle de moineau
tête de linotte
Qu’elle bécasse !
le chant du cygne
crane de piaf
oiseaux de mauvaise augure
Ce sont de vrais tourtereaux
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