Francophonie· medium
arriver comme un cheveu sur la soupe
“to arrive like a hair on the soup”
Meaning
To turn up at the worst possible moment
Explanation
Finding a stray hair in your soup isn't really about dirt, it's about something turning up exactly where it shouldn't, much like a badly timed remark.
Example
Sa question est arrivée comme un cheveu sur la soupe en pleine réunion.
His question landed at the worst possible moment, right in the middle of the meeting.
Origin
Expressio notes the phrase only seems to be recorded from the very start of the 20th century, built on the simple idea of a hair turning up somewhere it plainly doesn't belong.
Source
More like this
- avoir de la bouteilleTo have plenty of experience
- avoir du bléto have money
- avoir du pain sur la plancheTo have a lot of work still to do
- avoir les yeux plus gros que le ventreTo take on more than one can handle
- courir sur le haricot à quelqu'unto get on someone's nerves
- en avoir gros sur la patateTo feel very down about something