Les cuisses son cuitent

Another lovely French phrase, said to me by my Doctor. Does anyone have an English equivalent?
Sue Jones.

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Permalink Reply by Pamela Kingfisher on September 9, 2009 at 2:14pm

Les cuisses sont cuitent

The thighs are cooking.
I hope you were in the kitchen and those were chicken legs!
Pam

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Permalink Reply by Frank on September 9, 2009 at 3:36pm

Hi Susan (and Pam)

The phrase "les cuisses sont cuites" isn't an idiom as far as I know. Or maybe it's a regional one, but even Google doesn't seem to know about it.

Talking about cooking, it can indeed mean that the thighs are cooking, as stated by Pam.

But as it was said by your doctor, maybe it's not exactly what she meant.

Two other meanings of "cuites" are "hopeless" (or, talking about a situation: it's a no go) and "burned".

So maybe what your doctor was trying to say is that:
1) either: you had a tan, and you're now looking like a lobster.
2) or: something is wrong with your thighs and he thinks there's no way to fix them.

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Permalink Reply by susan jones on September 10, 2009 at 9:36am

Hello Dennis and Pam, Thanks for replying. I have used this phrase to a few french friends who all laughed as I told the story from my doctor. I had been feeling pretty groggy that day and after a long wait in the surgery I walked rather wearily into the surgery. ' I'm walking like an old woman' 'Oh les carrots sont cuites!'
One of my friends said you must have looked really groggy and had the legs of a very old woman. So the sense of hopeless fits I guess. Sue Jones

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Permalink Reply by susan jones on September 10, 2009 at 10:15pm

Sorry everyone I made an error I phrases is ' les carrots sonts cuites' Just seen my error. I enjoyed the replies. Hope you can come up with the meaning of the above. Merci a tous!!!!

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Permalink Reply by Frank on September 10, 2009 at 11:06pm

Ahah. Yes, Les carottes sont cuites is an idiom. And it means that the current situation is hopeless. Something's bad is going to happen and you can't avoid it.

It can apply to a wide spectrum of things or situations.

If you're watching a soccer game, and the current score is 3-1 and there are only 2 minutes of play left, you can say "les carottes sont cuites" about the second team. Unless a miracle happens, they have no chance to win.

Or if a gangster tries to escape the police but finally gets surrounded by police cars, he can think "oops, les carottes sont cuites". Game over for him.

You planned a BBQ, but it's going to rain cats and dogs. Les carottes sont cuites.

--

However, this expression is dying. Nowadays, we rarely use it. Probably because in such a situation, we can't help becoming a bit more vulgar.