French expression: Avoir un poil dans la main
Friday November 21, 2008
What does the idiomatic French expression avoir un poil dans la main mean? Click the link above to learn all about it, and then come back here to share your thoughts.
More: French expressions
More: French expressions
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Avoir un poil dans la main:
Qu’est-ce que c’est l’opposé?
L’expression ‘Avoir un poil dans la main’ a les connotations inattendues et malheureuse pour les anglophones. Si on a des poils dans la main, on a certainement trouvé quelquechose à faire pour se désennuyer.
Bonjour,
In the pronounciation guide for “un”, the suggestion “roo (n)” doesn’t make sense to me.
Can you explain this for me? Merci!
Mart - Il est dur à la peine, Il est bosseur, C’est un bon travailleur.
Sarah - Depending on who you talk to, there are two ways to pronounce “un” - either eh(n) or oo(n) The (n) represents a nasal n. Please see my lesson on nasal vowels to learn more and listen to sound files: http://french.about.com/od/pronunciation/a/vowels-nasal.htm
Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About
Au sujet de l’expression “Avoir un poil dans la main” pour indiquer (ou décrire) quelquon très paresseux, en English nous disons parfois que he/she is dead lazy. Si vous êtes mort, vous ne pouvez faire rien.
Avoir un poil a la main - peut - on utiliser l’expression et pour le travail physique et pour les devoirs -par exemple
“un etudiant qui a le poil a la main”?
Sarah,
Normally the “r” in avoir is not pronounced unless the following word begins with a vowel, then the “r” is pronounced as the first letter of the following word. I think
Marie-Rose - Yes, you can use it for any kind of laziness. Please note that the expression is “avoir un poil dans la main,” not “le poil à la main.”
Richard - Not quite. You’re right that the R is transferred onto the next word when it starts with a vowel (this is called enchaînement), but the R at the end of avoir is always pronounced, no matter what letter follows it.
Laura K. Lawless
Learn French at About
Great example of French humour, as usual requiring quite a lot of structuring on the part of the hearer - it is a characteristically levelling metaphor i.e. we all would likely have hairy palms, but the modicum of work that some of us do, ensures that it is worn away.
I like it.
Interesting how many similarities there are between French and English….. and yet how many differences also which sometimes gives rise to unforseen pitfalls. Most middle aged people in England will remember the school boys’ 3 signs of madness: talking to yourself, growing hair on the palms of your hands, and looking for them. Using this expression in the wrong context could be a faux pas!!!!!!
Avoir un poil dans la main
Maybe it’s that this person is so lazy that the heaviest thing they can lift is a hair, nothing heavier..? Just an idea :-]
Just a related idea from English. As a child, my husband grew up with his mum’s excuse for not doing things “I’ve got a bone in my leg!” which he thought was a serious condition incapacitating her. No idea if this was her own invention or more general - but a hair in the hand preventing action seems like a similar concept.