The French expression "Tu chantes comme une casserole"

You are going to learn everything you have to know about the basic French expression “Tu chantes comme une casserole”.

Including a full explanation of what it mean and how to use it in a dialogue with an audio example. As well as the cool stuff we added like dialogue example, literal meaning, slow pronunciation audio and more!

If you are interested, on this page you will find our others expressions pages plus the ultimate list of all our French words guides on this page. Wish you a happy learning!

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French to English

How to pronounce

Slow pronunciation

Normal pronunciation

What does it mean?

Definition

  • Chanter → To sing
  • Comme → Like/as
  • Une casserole → A sauce pan

For this expression we will need two things: a saucepan and a spoon. Once you have it, follow the recipe below:

Step 1: Take a saucepan in your left hand

Step 2: Take the spoon in your right hand

Step 3: Bang the saucepan with the spoon (5 times)

As you probably noticed, the sound is f*** annoying, loud and not harmonized.

Just like someone who sings poorly (I plead guilty), that’s why we use this comparison. So now that you know where this is coming from, let’s see how you can use it.

How to use

Every time that friend/relative of yours is singing terribly (while acting like he/she is a superstar) you now have a funny weapon to use! Just say “Tu chantes comme une casserole !” and he/she might stop…

On the other hand, if someone asks you if you are a talented singer but you have no illusion on your singing skills, you can say: “Je chante comme une casserole“. Fair enough.

Funny stuff

This idiom is so popular that we ended up using the word casserole (saucepan) by itself to designate an awful singer.

So you can even say “T’es vraiment une casserole” (You really are a saucepan) to say “You are a terrible singer

Synonyms

  • Chanter comme une seringue. (“To sing like a syringe“)
  • Chanter comme une guimbarde. (“To sing like a jaw harp“)
  • Chanter comme une gamelle. (“To sing like a lunch box“)

Example in a story with translation

Now, let’s see a complete example of this idiom in a story with slow French audio and the English translation below.
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À propos d'hier soir
About last night
___
Rémi s’est réveillé avec un horrible mal de tête.
Rémi woke up with a horrible headache.
Karine:   Oh, je vois que tu es réveillé !
Oh, I see that you’re awake!
Rémi:   J’ai tellement soif…
I’m so thirsty…
Karine:   Bien sûr, tu as beaucoup bu hier soir.
Of course, you drank a lot last night.
Rémi:   Je ne me souviens de rien.
I don’t remember anything.
Karine:   Tout a commencé avec du vin rouge.
It all started with red wine.
Rémi:   Ah oui, je me souviens d’une bouteille de vin.
Ah yes, I remember a bottle of wine.
Karine:   Pas seulement une bouteille, mais trois bouteilles !
Not just one bottle, but three bottles!
Rémi:   J’ai dû perdre le contrôle après la première.. putain, je vieillis…
I must have lost control after the first one… fuck, I’m getting old…
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