Canada· hard· old-fashioned
le diable bat sa femme pour avoir des crêpes
“the devil beats his wife to get crêpes”
Meaning
it's raining while the sun is shining
Explanation
An old Quebec way of remarking on that odd weather when it's raining and sunny at once, a sunshower.
Example
Regarde, il pleut et il fait soleil, le diable doit battre sa femme pour avoir des crêpes !
Look, it's raining and sunny at the same time, must be a sunshower!
Origin
The core saying, that the devil beats his wife when it rains in the sunshine, was already recorded in the French Academy's dictionary in 1694. Quebec French tacked on 'to get pancakes' as its own local twist, while in France the phrase more often continues with 'and marries off his daughter'.
Where
Quebec
Source
More like this
- ambitionner sur le pain béniTo push your luck too far
- avoir les yeux dans la graisse de binesTo be half asleep
- éplucher des vieux légumesto keep bringing up old grudges
- être dans les patatesto be completely wrong about something
- avoir déjà vu neigerto be experienced enough that nobody can fool you
- avoir des croûtes à mangerto still have a lot to learn