What does the idiomatic French expression avoir une dent contre quelqu'un 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
French expression: Avoir une dent contre quelqu'un
By Laura K. Lawless, About.com GuideAugust 24, 2012
Explore French Language
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When I read this one, I automatically thought it meant “to have a bone to pick with someone.” Bones… teeth… easy to remember this one!
Just like Jane in Arkansas, I also thought about the expression “I’ve got a bone to pick with him (her).” I grew up in Texas and learned French in Arkansas. Maybe the “bone to pick” expression is something we say in the South?
Hanaba, we use that phrase in the Northwest too. (I’m in Washington State.) It isn’t just the South.
This is complete conjecture, but I remember studying the opening pages of “Romeo and Juliet,” where one of the characters says “Do you bite your thumb at me sir?” This is in response to another character putting his thumb in his mouth such that the nail is behind one of the incisors, and flicking it towards the person who he doesn’t like, or has a grudge against, thus suggesting “you’re not worth the grime under my fingernail.” It’s a an insult of Shakespearian times. To do this, you pick at your tooth, or at the bone (teeth are bones). So I imagine the two expressions “bone to pick with you” and “a tooth against you” are linked through this action.
In Russia we say the same “avoir une dent contre qqn”:) may be it was adopted from French…
Interesting …In Western India (Asia) we speak Marathi and in Mararthi we have an expresion “daat dharane” – literally meaning [to hold a tooth (against somebody)]….I think it comes from the habits of the reptiles and animals too…A snake can remember the person who hurts him and bites only that person in future…same thing happens in case of a dog . Dog remembers the scent of the person – friend or otherwise – and if that person has in any way offended the dog (According to the dog) the first thing the dog does in future is ‘a bite’ – big or small ..In all these bites “toot/teeth” is the “tool” used…so a person who has same revengeful mentality to treat the person who has harmed him (tit for tat) wll also be reacting in the same way in future. Of course this is my thinking on this..
Funny, I know a Japanese word “hamukau” (歯向かう), which can be dissected to mean essentially the same thing. The actual meaning is a bit different but somewhat related: “to oppose, to resist”
I don’t agree with the translation of the example provided, I quote:
Example:
Laurence a une dent contre moi depuis deux semaines.
Laurence has had a grudge against for me for two weeks.
In my view the correct translation would be:
Laurence has a grudge against…instead of “has had” as the verb avoir is at the present tense so it is implied that the action continues after two weeks, however the translation states that Laurence has no longer a grudge against me. Please correct me if I’m wrong, thanks.
“Has had” does not necessarily mean that the action is over; to express that, you would simply say “had.”
The synthetic explanations of Sean and Ravindra Abhyankar are quite interesting.
Il semble que l’expression idiomatic en question ne soit pas que française,mais existe dans de nombreuses langues dans le monde.Et même en rapprochant une dent,a tooth,et un os,a bone,cela évoque quelque chose de très semblable.
Quant à son sens origine,sans doute,la traduction courante étant avoir une ou de la rancune contre quelqu’un,l’histoire du chien qui n’oublie pas qu’on lui a fait mal,est à la fois amusante et signifiante.
Peut-on imaginer un chien se dire en pensant à un adversaire:j’ai de bonnes dents,il y en aura une pour toi un jour ???
Ou,du moins,son maitre peut lui attribuer cette idée de vengeance.
Peut-on rapprocher d’une expression en français concernant une rancune d’une personne contre une autre: “ce type-là,moi,je lui garde un chien de ma chienne”,autant dire qu’à plusieurs générations canines
il n’aura pas intérèt à venir chez moi,sinon je lâcherai mes chiens.
??rapport avec “oeil pour oeil,dent pour dent ” ??Comment savoir ?
un petit oubli
Avoir la dent = avoir grand faim
(familier,plutôt argot)