/dɔne sa lɑ̃ɡ o ʃa/ lit. ‘to give your tongue to the cat’
French idiom, everyday. To have no idea at all.
Draft Not yet checked by a native French speaker.
How do people use Donner sa langue au chat
?
Everyday French for when you’re asked a riddle, a quiz question or “guess who I saw?” and you’ve got nothing: “je donne ma langue au chat” means I’ve no idea, just tell me. It’s light and playful, and almost always in the first person present.
Donner sa langue au chat
in real sentences
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Je donne ma langue au chat.
I give up.
Tatoeba, sentence by manuk7, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Je ne trouve pas la réponse. Alors, je donne ma langue au chat.
I can’t find the answer. So I give up: tell me.
Where does Donner sa langue au chat
come from?
French Wiktionary dates it to the 19th century, as a softer version of “jeter sa langue au chien” (to throw your tongue to the dog), which Madame de Sévigné and her circle used in the 17th century. The oldest quotation it gives is from the Goncourt brothers’ Les Hommes de lettres (1860), in a guessing game. Why the dog was swapped for a cat isn’t recorded, and the stories about cats keeping secrets are guesses.
Mistakes learners make with Donner sa langue au chat
Using it for any not-knowing. Asked “où sont mes clés ?” you’d say “aucune idée”; “je donne ma langue au chat” belongs to guessing games, when you want to be told the answer.
Other French idioms like Donner sa langue au chat
Spot a mistake in Donner sa langue au chat
?
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