(Photo credits: Adobe Stock – Man who looks forward to spending the holidays with his family in a good mood)
Amusing French expressions are numerous, both nationally and regionally. The Christmas holiday period is no exception to the rule with idiomatic terms that span the centuries, continuing to be used by our elders and lovers of the French language. Whether funny, familiar or colorful, find 9 successful proverbs about money or French expressions on the theme of the end-of-year celebrations to amaze or amuse your loved ones during meals.
“Confectioners’ Truce” to designate the period between Christmas and New Year’s Day
Far from illustrating a period of complete rest for confectioners, quite the contrary, this name dates back to the lively political debates between republican parliamentarians, monarchists and Bonapartists in December 1874 on the subject of the future constitution.
Finally suspended, they gave rise to a break during the holidays so as not to penalize Parisian commerce. This parenthesis in discussions at the top of the State still continues during this calm period, during which few major decisions are taken (1).
“In the New Year, New Years to the children”
This tradition of New Year gifts comes from Roman antiquity, which introduced gifts in kind (verbena, honey, dates, figs, etc.) to magistrates.
Over time, New Year gifts have become sums of money paid at Christmas or at the beginning of January to dedicated people (postman, firefighter, caretaker, etc.) and to the children around us. Depending on their amount, the gifts can be directly reused or placed in a youth savings account.
“Kiss under the mistletoe” on January 1st for good luck
This romantic expression is used to encourage couples to kiss under the wreath of mistletoe, the plant of which is supposed to offer them eternal and unbroken love.
This folklore around the “Golden Bough” would have Celtic, Nordic or English origins. A symbol of vitality and fertility, it is hung on the occasion of the New Year above a door or in an entrance to bring luck to the guests.
During this festive period, the following phrase was often intoned: “Au mistletoe the new year!”
“On New Year’s Eve, make two pancakes to have money”
This superstitious formula of French origin advises cooking two pancakes on the first day of the year to ensure sufficient income the rest of the time. If you are greedy and curious to test the veracity of this belief, consider preparing a mini pancake batter from January 1st.
“Enguirlander” to mark a disagreement or an argument
The primary meaning means to adorn the tree with garlands; its old version corresponds to excessive praise and compliments given to a person to please them at all costs.
On the other hand, in colloquial language, it has the definition of reprimanding someone. This expression is similar to this: “Getting dressed for winter.” With the difference that the slander or criticism is in the latter case rather said behind someone’s back.
“Don’t spend New Year’s Eve there” to express your impatience
Quite familiar, it is used when you neither want to wait a long time, nor waste your time doing something that is of little interest or that you consider useless. By choosing it, the interlocutor shows a form of annoyance.
“Frost at Christmas, a hundred crowns in your purse”
In the 19th century, freezing weather with frost promised those who suffered it (perhaps to comfort them?) gold coins in their purse hanging from their belt. This financial perspective, even illusory, made it possible to better tolerate the harshness of such weather conditions in the countryside.
“Good year, bad year” for the notion of average obtained over time
This formula dates back to the Middle Ages and refers to the alternation of good and bad harvests depending on the year, which affected farmers. Without changes in the cultivated areas or the techniques used, variations in quantities were not rare depending on the climatic conditions of the year.
“If it rains on New Year’s Eve, the plowman will have little produce”
This adage of Lorraine origin said a lot about the stress of farmers who, like today, had no control over the vagaries of Nature. If the harvests were spoiled, it was their food and their income for the year that were compromised. The rest of the proverb is of the same style: “And [le laboureur] will have no good wine to drown his poor sorrows.”
To know
Want to go further?
To further master and perpetuate French expressions, whether they are related to money, romantic or humorous, consider purchasing dedicated books that will occupy your long winter evenings. At Fnac (partner The Corner*), you will be spoiled for choice.
We can advise you among the plethora of collections devoted to the subject: “As we say at home: the great book of French in our regions” by Mathieu Avanzi (24.90 euros each), “500 Popular expressions dissected” by Jean Maillet (14.90 euros each) and “The 1001 Expressions of the French” by George Planelles (16.90 euros each). Fun online quizzes also exist to easily check your knowledge on the subject.
With these few revisions of French expressions special to money and end-of-year celebrations, you will be able to test their impact on those around you. The golden rule: explain the origin and context of the idiomatic term in case your interlocutor does not understand it. Happy family holidays with gourmet and cultural reunions!
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(1) https://www.bnf.fr/fr
