/məne kɛlkœ̃ paʁ lə bu dy ne/ lit. ‘lead someone by the tip of the nose’
French idiom, familiar. To have someone so charmed or devoted that they’ll do whatever you want.
Draft Not yet checked by a native French speaker.
How do people use Mener quelqu’un par le bout du nez
?
Familiar, used about couples, bosses or anyone who has a hold over another person, and usually said with some disapproval of both sides. The person being led goes right after “mener”: “elle le mène par le bout du nez”, “il mène tout le monde par le bout du nez”. “Se laisser mener par le bout du nez” (to let yourself be led) is just as common.
Also said mener quelqu’un par le nez
Mener quelqu’un par le bout du nez
in real sentences
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Elle peut mener n’importe quel homme par le bout du nez.
She can wrap any man around her finger.
Tatoeba, sentence by sacredceltic, translation by AlanF_US, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Sa femme le mène par le bout du nez.
His wife leads him by the nose.
Tatoeba, sentence by sacredceltic, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Mener quelqu’un par le bout du nez
come from?
French Wiktionary links it to animals that were led by a ring or chain through the nose. It quotes a French etymological dictionary from 1750, which traces it to a Greek saying about a fool who lets others lead him around “the way we lead buffaloes and bears by a chain through the snout”. So the phrase was in use by the mid-18th century at the latest, and Zola used it in La Fortune des Rougon (1871).
Mistakes learners make with Mener quelqu’un par le bout du nez
Swapping the verb for “conduire” or “guider” because they also mean “to lead”. The verb is fixed as “mener”; the only change French Wiktionary lists is the shorter “mener par le nez”.
Other French idioms like Mener quelqu’un par le bout du nez
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