C’est là que le bât blesse

How do people use C’est là que le bât blesse?

Everyday and a little literary, so it turns up both in conversation and in newspaper articles, usually right after you’ve described a plan that sounds fine. Journalists love “c’est bien là que le bât blesse” with “bien” for emphasis. You can also point it at a person: “je sais où le bât le blesse” means you know what’s really bothering him.

Also said c’est là où le bât blesse, là où le bât blesse

C’est là que le bât blesse in real sentences

• C’est là que le bât blesse.

  And therein lies the problem.

  Tatoeba, sentence by Blabla, translation by sundown, CC BY 2.0 FR

• Malheureusement, cet ordinateur portable n’a pas une très bonne autonomie, et c’est là que le bât blesse : la batterie se vide en moins d’une heure.

  Unfortunately this laptop doesn’t have very good battery life, and that’s where the problem lies: the battery runs down in under an hour.

  Tatoeba, sentence by gillux, CC BY 2.0 FR

Where does C’est là que le bât blesse come from?

French Wiktionary says the expression goes back to the mid-15th century and refers to packsaddles on mules: an animal whose load was badly fixed or too heavy got sores, and the sore spot was where the saddle hurt. It doesn’t name the 15th-century text. The old proverb “nul ne sait mieux que l’âne où le bât blesse” (nobody knows better than the donkey where the packsaddle hurts) uses the same picture.

Mistakes learners make with C’est là que le bât blesse

Hearing “bât” as “bas” or “bat” and writing it without the circumflex. A bât is a packsaddle, the frame a donkey or mule carries its load on, and the word is spelled with â.

Other French idioms like C’est là que le bât blesse

• le hic (the snag)
• c’est là le hic (that’s the snag)
• nul ne sait mieux que l’âne où le bât blesse (nobody knows better than the donkey where the packsaddle hurts)