Skip to Content

Avoir une araignée au plafond

Avoir une araignée au plafond

Avoir une araignée au plafond is a French idiom that translates literally to “to have a spider on the ceiling” and means “to have a few screws loose” or “to have bats in the belfry”. A French definition is être un peu dérangé (to be a bit disturbed).

Avoir une araignée au plafond

to have a few screws loose, to have bats in the belfry

Avoir une araignée au plafond - to have a few screws loose, to have bats in the belfry

Example sentence

Tout le monde sait que Jean a une araignée au plafond parce qu’il n’arrête jamais de répéter les mêmes histoires.

Everybody knows Jean has a few screws loose because he never stops repeating the same stories.

Grammatical notes

  • The expression tout le monde translates literally to “all the world” and means “everybody”.
  • The negation ne…jamais means “never”. For example, je n’ai jamais vu (I’ve never seen).
  • Arretêr means “to stop” and arretêr de + infinitive means “to stop doing something”. This lesson explains verbs followed by de.
  • This lesson provides example sentences for répéter (to repeat).
  • The feminine noun histoire means both story and history.

More amusing expressions

Reference

French expressions | Lessons by David Issokson

author avatar
David Issokson
David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

Sharing is caring!

David Issokson

David Issokson is a lifelong language learner and speaks over seven languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private lessons. When not teaching or writing his French Word of the Day lessons, David enjoys his time skiing, hiking and mountain biking in Victor, Idaho.

See all posts by