The French expression avoir la dalle translates literally to “to have the throat”. La dalle is a slang word for la gorge (throat). English translations of the idiom are: to be very hungry, famished or starved. The French-to-French translation is avoir très faim (to be very hungry).
avoir la dalle
to be very hungry
Exression origin
The French word “dalle” comes from the ancient Scandinavian daéla, which means gutter, sink or a hollow pip that allows drainage. By the fourteenth century, the term dalle was used to refer to the throat and esophagus. The adjective dalleux refers to a big eat who’s never satisfied.
Example sentences
Oh là là ! J’ai la dalle ! À quelle heure est-ce qu‘on mange ?
Oh, I’m starved. What time are we eating?
The expression crever la dalle is a bit strong than avoir la dalle. The verb crever means to die.
crever la dalle
to be very hungry (slightly stronger)
Here an example:
Je crève la dalle. J’ai tellement envie de manger.
I’m so hungry. I want really want to eat.
Be careful of the related expression, “avoir la dalle en pente“, which means to be a heavy drinker or boozer. For example:
avoir la dalle en pente
to be a big drinker, boozer
- Tu connais Marc ? Ouai, je le connais. Il a vraiment la dalle en pente! You know Marc? Yeah, I know him. He’s a real boozer!
French expressions | Lessons by David Issokson
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