chessfou Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Well, not exactly but I can't quite get a phrase in this morning's Le Monde. Writing about Michael Phelps' victory in the semis of the 200m butterfly, the journalist scribbles: « ... facilement qualifié pour la finale, remportant haut la main sa demie. »OK, so he won (or carried off) his semi « haut la main » ?« Haut les mains! » from many a Western ("hands up")« avoir la haute main sur qqch » "to have supreme control of something"I'm going to answer my own question! I had searched fruitleslly in Le Robert & Collins (French section) for the answer but, while I have been typing, thought of tackling it the other way round and looked up "hand" in the English-French half and sure enough it's there:haut la main = hands down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchie Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 Haut la main means easily...I don't know what the origin of it is though.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
odile Posted August 12, 2008 Share Posted August 12, 2008 pas facile ... mais ne baisse pas les bras chessfou Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chessfou Posted August 13, 2008 Author Share Posted August 13, 2008 Baisser les bras ? Non, je n'ai pas envie d'être un bras cassé en langue française donc je ne reste pas les bras croisés mais j'allonge mes bras vers le perfectionnement de mon français et si quelqu'un essayerait de m'empêcher je lui ferai un bras d'honneur (je suis prêt à toutes les bassesses). [;-)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frenchie Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Tu parles bien français ! J'en suis les bras ballants !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christine Animal Posted August 13, 2008 Share Posted August 13, 2008 Moi aussi. On en apprend des trucs, à tour de bras ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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