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French expression of the day: Se ronger les ongles

The Local France
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French expression of the day: Se ronger les ongles
Photo: Annie Spratt/Unsplash/Nicolas Raymond

Need to talk about being worried in French? It's all in the manicure.

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Why do I need to know se ronger les ongles?

Because it’s the beautifully rhythmic and poetic French version of the nail-biting metaphor to  describe something that’s nerve-wracking.

What does it mean

Se ronger les ongles - pronounced se ronjay lez onglay - literally translates as ‘biting the nails’.

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As per the English-language version, it can describe the physical act of nail-biting, or the metaphorical one to indicate a tense situation.

Use it like this

Se ronger les ongles est une bien mauvaise habitude - Nail-biting is a bad habit

Les supporters Stade Toulousain ont de quoi se ronger les ongles - Toulouse fans have something to bite their nails about

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