Faire un froid de canard


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Informal French Expression

Meaning	to be bitterly cold
Literally	to be a duck’s cold
Register	informal
Pronunciation		[feh ru(n) frwa d(eu) kah nahr]
IPA		[fɛ ʁœ̃ fʁwa də ka naʁ]

Usage notes: When it’s really, really cold, it’s a duck’s cold, according to the French idiom faire un froid de canard. Why? Because the best duck hunting days are in the winter, when hunters have to keep still for long periods in freezing cold weather in order to allow their prey to get close enough to be shot. Thus, that bitter cold that seeps into the bones is known as un froid de canard.

Par exemple…

N’oublie pas ton bonnet, il fait un froid de canard !		Don’t forget your hat, it’s bitterly cold out!
Il faisait un froid de canard la semaine dernière.		It was bitterly cold last week.

Variation: faire un temps de loup – literally, “to be a wolf’s weather"

Synonymous expressions