“Avoir un coeur d’artichaut” is an almost comical French expression which translates literally to “to have an artichoke heart”. In English, the meaning is “to fall in love with everyone you meet”. The idea is that by the time you’re done peeling off each artichoke leaf, you’ve given one to everybody you love. Here are some other translations:
- to fall in love easily
- to fall in love often
This idiom has is origins in the late-19th century proverb, “coeur d’artichaut, une feuille pour tout le monde“, which translates to: “Artichoke heart, one leaf for everybody.”
A French-to-French translation is “tomer amoureux facilement“, or to fall in love easily.
Here’s a sample sentence:
- Géralde a un coeur d’artichaut. Il change de petite amie tout le temps et sa vie devient de plus en plus compliquée. Geralde falls in love with everybody he meets. He changes girlfriends all the time and his life is becoming increasingly complicated.
Listen to these kids explain the expression avoir le coeur d’artichaut (video in French).
Video source: Camille Martin
