What does the French expression ' prendre les rênes ' mean? How is it used in a sentence? Listen to Anne Audio.
prendre les rênes, to take the reins means to take command, to take the lead, to be/come in charge. Careful with the spelling of rênes: rennes is reindeer... (click in the link below)
« Il faudra que je prenne les rênes si je veux que ça aille mieux. »
"I'll have to take command if I want things to get better."
What does the French expression ' être dans ses petits souliers ' mean? How is it used in a sentence? Listen to Anne Audio.
être dans ses petits souliers – to be in one’s little shoes. Un soulier is another way of saying ‘une chaussure’, a shoe. It’s kind of obsolete in every day French. However, at Christmas time, ‘un soulier’ is what you put in front of the fireplace, for Santa to put his presents in. ‘un soulier’ is a French stocking. But let’s go back to the expression ‘être dans ses petits souliers’. It means ‘to be ill at ease, to feel self-conscious, to feel uncomfortable.’ It might be because it’s uncomfortable to wear shoes that are too small. être dans ses petits souliers is often used when you feel you’ve done something wrong.
« J’ai oublié d’aller le chercher à la gare ce matin. J’étais dans mes petits souliers quand je l’ai vu au déjeuner. »
“ I forgot to pick him up at the station this morning. I felt pretty uncomfortable when I saw him at lunch.”
What does the French expression ' avoir les boules ' mean? How is it used in a sentence? Listen to Anne Audio.
avoir les boules has recently become a very popular expression. Literally, it is " to have the balls ". I'm pretty sure that we are not talking about Pétanque balls here. I'd rather think of the beautiful 'boules de noël', Christmas ornaments. I hope you're with me. In any case, avoir les boules doesn't mean 'to be daring', it means 'to be upset'.
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