French Expressions and Idioms
Have you heard of “idiomatic expressions”? These are figurative expressions specific to French, that are usually not translatable directly, as each language uses its own references! Therefore, you need to learn them directly in the language, as well as learning French equivalents to the ones you use in English! Knowing idiomatic expressions is key when learning a new language and it will definitely help you sound like a true Français 😊
✍️ Today’s French expression is:
“Démarrer au quart de tour”
1. To start straight away, smoothly (machine)
2. To have a hair-trigger temper, to fly off the handle (person)
🎧 Here’s a podcast about it!
Want to learn more about this fun expression, what it means, and hear some in-context examples? Then listen to Aurélie and Céline‘s related podcast below:
🚗 Some context
The expression “Démarrer au quart de tour” is a reference that comes from the early automotive industry. At the start of the 20th century, car engines used to get started with a hand crank. A well-tuned engine only required a “quarter turn” of the crank to fire up instantly, a highly desirable feature. Nowadays, this expression has two main meanings: one literal, to refer to a machine or a motor that starts instantly and smoothly, and one figurative meaning, to refer to a person with a short temper, who gets provoked and angered easily.
👀 How about some examples?
To help you commit this expression to memory, here are some useful examples of how to use it in context:
- – Quoi ? Qu’est-ce qu’il a dit ?
– Oh là là ! Tu démarres toujours au quart de tour ! Calme-toi.
- Ma nouvelle moto a un moteur bien plus puissant. Elle démarre au quart de tour, c’est impressionnant !
- Il ne fallait pas mentionner la politique avec mon oncle Roger, parce qu’il démarrait au quart de tour !
- Au lieu de démarrer au quart de tour, tu ferais mieux de tourner sept fois ta langue dans ta bouche.
🤩 Enjoy a special Fill-in-the-Blanks exercise!
With this great Fill-in-the-Blanks exercise featuring our new expression, you get to practise your French grammar while getting another in-context use of the expression “démarrer au quart de tour” to help you remember it 🤗 Que demander de plus ?
- Mon oncle Roger, un sacré personnage ! (Le Présent) – A1
🙌 Now is your time to shine!
Challenge yourself to use this expression in a French conversation or piece of writing, and let us know what you thought of this expression, share your idiomatic sentences, and tell us how your French friends reacted to it – en français bien sûr – in the comments below ☺️
À toi de jouer !
Author info
Aurélie is our resident French Expert. She has created most of the wonderful content you see on the site and is usually the person answering your tricky help questions. She comes from a small village near Chartres in Central France, country of cereal fields and not much else. She left (in a hurry) to study English at the world-famous Sorbonne in Paris, before leaving France in 2007 to experience the “London lifestyle” - and never looked back! She's worked as a professional French teacher, translator and linguist in the UK since. She loves to share her love of languages and is a self-professed cinema and literature geek!
For over ten years now, Céline has been teaching French and Italian to students of all ages and abilities in the UK. This French native speaker comes from Brittany, and likes crafts, Breton dance (of course!) and Breton music which she actually played for four years. She also has a fondness for European cinema and British History.