After some years of studying French in the classroom, it is not usually, until one spends time living in France and hearing people saying all types of things one had never heard before.

You may ask people how they are and they would reply talking about cockroaches and potatoes – you would be baffled!

These thoughts are good enough to make one realize how important idioms are if you truly want to master a language. 

Knowing idiomatic phrases in French actually up your ‘language game’ and makes you sound like a local. So Iet us share some useful and funny ones with you.

Here are some of the fun French phrases that you need to know:

Avoir le cafard

Actually, means to have the cockroach. Certainly, this is not actually talking about cockroaches! This absurd idiom refers “to feel depressed” or “to feel down”.

S’occuper de ses oignons

Means, to take care of one’s onions. This lovely idiom means “to mind your own business”. It may sound funny, but people use it in utter seriousness!

Avoir la patate/la pêche

Means to have the peach/potato. And here it is not about potatoes or peaches either! These phrases mean to be happy and to have plenty of energy.

Oh la vache!

Oh the cow is the actual meaning. Might have heard the English phrase “Holy cow!”? Well, this one is pretty similar. It expresses shock/exclamation and means “Oh my gosh!”.

Tomber dans les pommes

Means, to fall in the apples. This phrase refers “to faint”. People also say it to express shock or surprise.

Avoir la gueule de bois

To have the wooden face is the meaning. It means “to have a hangover”. It hails from the idea that when you have a hangover your mouth is simply as dry as wood! Clever, eh?!

Avoir un coup de foudre

Means, to have a strike of lightning. This means “to fall in love at first sight”. The idea is that you all of a sudden and unexpectedly fall for someone, similarly, like a sudden lightning strike. You can use this phrase to talk about objects, as well.