Se fourrer le doigt dans l'œil - Lawless French Expression

Informal French Expression


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Meaning	to be kidding oneself, to be wrong
Literally	to stick one’s finger in one’s eye
Register	informal
Pronunciation		[seu foo ray leu dwah da(n) leuy]
IPA		[sə fu ʀe lə dwa dã lœj]

Usage notes: The informal French expression se fourrer le doigt dans l’œil is a colorful way of telling someone that they are wrong.*

Par exemple…

Si elle croit que cela va réussir, elle se fourre le doigt dans l’œil !		If she thinks that’s going to work, she’s kidding herself!
Mais non, tu te fourres le doigt dans l’œil !		No, you’re so wrong!

Variations

Stronger version: se fourrer le doigt dans l’œil jusqu’au coude – literally, “to stick one’s finger in one’s eye up to the elbow.”

Normal register: Interestingly, this expression is informal only because of the verb se fourrer. With a different verb, it’s normal register: se mettre le doigt dans l’œil – literally, “to put one’s finger in one’s eye.”

Synonyms

avoir très tort – to be very wrong
se faire des illusions – to be deluding oneself
se tromper grossièrement – to be very much mistaken

* It’s even more colorful than you might realize, as œil is most likely a euphemism here for anus. This brings to mind an unrelated English expression about a thumb up one’s ….