Francophonie· medium
se mettre le doigt dans l'œil
“to put one's finger in one's eye”
Meaning
to be completely wrong
Explanation
This expression means to be totally mistaken about something. The longer version adds "jusqu'au coude" (up to the elbow) for emphasis.
Example
Si tu crois qu'il va te rembourser, tu te mets le doigt dans l'œil.
If you think he's going to pay you back, you're kidding yourself.
Origin
The full form is 'se mettre le doigt dans l'œil jusqu'au coude' (up to the elbow), which makes the absurdity even clearer. One colourful theory says the original 'œil' was actually 'œil de bronze', 19th-century slang for the anus, meaning the person was completely up their own backside. The cleaned-up version with the literal eye took over.
Source
More like this
- avoir bon dosTo serve as a convenient excuse for someone else's failings
- avoir le bras longTo have influence
- avoir le cœur sur la mainto be very generous
- avoir le compas dans l’œilTo judge distances and proportions accurately, just by eye
- avoir le diable au corpsto be full of reckless, restless energy
- avoir le nez creuxto guess right about what will happen