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Ready to discover all the things you want to know about the basic French idiom “Tu as un baobab dans la main”?
To be more precise, this includes a complete definition of what it is and how you can use it in a normal conversation with an audio example. But, we also added useful stuff like slow pronunciation audio, dialogue example, synonyms and more!
If you are interested, on this page you can find our others idioms tutorials plus the ultimate directory of all our French words tutorials on this page. Ready to learn? C’est parti ! (Let’s go!)
Slow pronunciation
Normal pronunciation
You might think: How did this expression end up meaning “you are lazy?“.
It’s actually an amplification of the French expression “Avoir un poil dans la main” (To have a hair on your hand)
Let’s imagine someone so lazy that he/she is never using his/her hands. Then, just like nature coming back in abandoned cities, the hairs would start to grow up, claiming back to their territory.
And with time, if the person is super lazy, this hair will slowly become a majestic baobab (A very high tree).
Instead of just saying “You are lazy“, you can add some fun and color to your sentence by saying “Tu as un baobab dans la main.” (You have a baobab on your hand).
This is a very informal idiom, so use it only with friends and relatives, ideally not at work since people might not appreciate it…
If this is your case, take care of it and don’t forget that a healthy baobab needs daily sun and fresh water.