1. The French don’t say “there’s no hope of changing it”…they say “the carrots are cooked” (Les carottes sont cuites).
2. The French don’t “make a big deal of something”…they “make a whole cheese about it” (En faire tout un fromage).
3. The French don’t “split the bill”…they “cut the pear in half” (Couper la poire en deux).
4. The French don’t “buy something for cheap”…they buy something for “a mouthful of bread” (Pour une bouchée de pain).
5. The French don’t tell you to “mind your own business”…they tell you to “mind you own onions’ (Occupe-toi de tes oignons).
6. The French don’t ask you to “get lost”…they ask you to “go and cook yourself an egg” (Va te faire cuire un œuf).
7. The French don’t “tone it down”…they “water down their wine” (Mettre de l’eau dans son vin).
8. The French are not “ungrateful”…they “spit in the soup” (Cracher dans la soupe).
9. The French don’t “stick their nose in your business”…they “put their grain of salt” in it (Y mettre son grain de sel).
10. The French don’t have “thin skin”…they are “milk soup” (Être soupe au lait).
11. The French don’t “tell lies”…they “tell salads” (Raconter des salades).
12. The French don’t get “soaked”…they get “drenched like a soup” (Être trempé comme une soupe).
13. The French won’t call you “dumb”…they’ll say that “you did not invent the thread that cuts the butter”. (Ne pas avoir inventé le fil à couper le beurre).
14. The French don’t “improve their financial situation”…they “put butter in the spinach” (Mettre du beurre dans les épinards).
15. The French don’t “get annoyed”…they have “mustard coming up their nose” (La moutarde me monte au nez).
16. The French are not “drunk”…they are “buttered” (Être beurré). 
More like this: Mini-guide to French slang
March 30 2015