Il donne sa langue au chat

[valeriy_osipov]

It is not enough to read French correctly.

It is not enough to literally understand what is written.

You also need to be French in order to correctly understand the meaning of what was said...

Comments

[livejournal]

Hello! Your entry got to top-25 of the most popular entries in LiveJournal!
Learn more about LiveJournal Ratings in FAQ.

[valeriy_osipov]

Cool.

[alexanderr]

Que signifie l'expression donner sa langue au chat ? Lorsqu'on donne sa langue au chat, c'est qu'on renonce à essayer de deviner quelque chose, car on estime qu'il est impossible de trouver la solution.

so, probably same/similar meaning as toss a coin?

your guess is as good as mine

[_profiterole_]

Isn't "toss a coin" the "heads or tails" thing?

"Je donne ma langue au chat" means "I give up, give me the answer."

[alexanderr]

uh ok
so the correct answer exists and it is known then

I thought it was more like I ask my cat to decide, which would basically be a random answer, a toss up

[_profiterole_]

Nope, French cats are very intelligent, they know the answer. :-)