Critical French Expression
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| Meaning | to accuse, blame; to criticize, be hard on | |
| Literally | to throw the rock | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[zheu tay lah pyehr] |
| IPA | [ʒə te la pjɛʁ] | |
Usage notes: The idiomatic French expression jeter la pierre à quelqu’un has two somewhat related meanings.
1) To blame or accuse someone
| Ne cherche pas quelqu’un à qui jeter la pierre – c’est de ta faute. | Don’t look for someone to blame – it’s your fault. | |
| Il m’a jeté la pierre pour avoir perdu le match. | He blamed me for losing the match. |
2) To criticize someone
| Tu jettes la pierre à n’importe qui sauf toi-même. | You criticize everyone but yourself. | |
| Il ne l’a pas fait exprès, ne lui jette pas la pierre. | He didn’t do it on purpose, don’t be too hard on him. |
As shown, à plus the "blamee" or the "criticizee" can be replaced with an indirect object pronoun.
Origin
Jeter la pierre is originally from the Bible:
| Que celui de vous qui est sans péché, jette le premier la pierre contre elle. | He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. | |
| Jean 8:7, Martin Bible | John 8:7, King James Bible |
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