Belgium· medium· informal
arranger les bidons
“to arrange the cans”
Meaning
to sort out a dispute, acting as go-between
Explanation
Used in Belgium, Switzerland and just over the French border to the north, this is what a mediator does: step between two sides who won't speak to each other and quietly patch things up. It carries a slightly makeshift, improvised feel, more a bit of string and tape than a formal settlement, which fits a word, bidon, that elsewhere in French slang means fake or cobbled together.
Example
Le maire a arrangé les bidons entre les deux voisins qui se disputaient la clôture.
The mayor smoothed things over between the two neighbours arguing about the fence.
Origin
Wiktionary records no etymology beyond the literal parts, arranger and bidons, and its earliest example is a 2007 newspaper piece, long after the phrase must already have been current. Quite how cans came to stand for a patched-up peace is anyone's guess.
Where
Belgium
Switzerland
Northern France
Source
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