The French expression "Il raconte des salades" explained

You are in the right place to find out everything you need to know about the basic idiom “Il raconte des salades”.

To be more precise, this includes a detailed guide of what it is and how to use it in a dialogue with an audio example. Together with the useful stuff we sprinkled like slow pronunciation audio, synonyms, dialogue example and more!

In case you are interested, on this page you can find more of these idioms guides plus all our French words tutorials on this page. Wish you a good learning!

Artboard 1
Showcase of this quote from our Instagram account
Daily posts like this on Instagram → @all.french and Telegram

English translation

How to pronounce it?

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does it mean?

Definition

The literal meaning is:

  • Raconter → To tell
  • des salades → salads

This expression dates from the 19th century. It’s comparing salads (an assortment of ingredients that go well together) to a set of gossip that, accompanied by a little humor and false excuses, can sound real.

How to use it

If someone is lying to you, you can simply say “Tu mens” (You lie) or “Tu es un(e) ment-eur/euse” (You are a liar)

But to make it funnier, you can say instead: “Tu racontes des salades” (You are telling salads)

Funny stuff

There is also a harsh way to say it: “Tu racontes des conneries.” (You are telling bullshit.) or simply “Conneries.” (Bullshit.)

Synonyms

  • Mentir. → To lie
  • Raconter des histoires. → To tell stories
  • Dire des balivernes. → To say nonsense/lies
  • Raconter des conneries. → To tell bullshit (Harsh)
  • Conneries. → Bullshit (Harsh)

Example in a story with English translation

Now, let’s see a complete example of this expression in a story with slow French audio and the English translation below.
Loading...
Qui est le meurtrier ?
Who is the murderer?
___
Emily et Philippe aimaient regarder des séries ensemble.
Emily and Philippe loved watching series together.
Surtout les séries policières…
Especially the police series…
Car ils aimaient essayer de deviner qui était le meurtrier et quelle était la raison du meurtre.
Because they loved trying to guess who the murderer was and what was the reason of the murder.
Ils étaient tous les deux compétitifs et aimaient utiliser leur logique pour résoudre un mystère.
They were both competitive and loved to use their logic to solve a mystery.
Ce soir-là, ils étaient donc réunis pour un nouvel épisode de leur série préférée…
So, that evening, they were together for a new episode of their favorite show…
Ils avaient préparé à manger et se sont installés dans le canapé…
They had prepared food and settled on the couch…
Get access to 365 French Texts and Quizzes

Become a member to access the full version of 365 texts and quizzes! 

Already a member? Login here