👉 See related lesson: Chiant (annoying, pain in the neck) »
Casser les pieds à quelqu’un is a French expression that translates literally to “to break somebody’s feet” and means “to annoy”, “to get on somebody’s nerves”, or “to drive somebody nuts”.
casser les pieds
to annoy
Example sentences
Arrête! Tu me casse les pieds!
Stop! You’re driving me nuts!
Ce chien me casse les pieds. Il n’arrête pas de me déranger quand je suis en train de travailler.
This dog is bothering me. He doesn’t stop bothering me while I’m working.
Je n’aime pas Thomas. Il me casse les pieds !
I don’t like Thomas. He drives me nuts!
Other usages of casse-pieds
Casse-pieds is also be a noun, meaning “pain in the neck”, “pest” or “nuisance”.
Il m’énerve ce mec! Quel casse-pieds !
This guy is bothering me. What a pest!
Casse-pieds is also an invariable adjective meaning “annoying”, “irritating”, or “very boring”.
Tu es très casse-pieds avec toutes tes demandes !
You are very annoying with all your requests!
Expression origin
The exact origin of this expression is unknown. The expression casser les pieds is related to another expression which has do with bothering people with annoying noise: casser les oreilles (literally to break the ears).
In general, the underlying meaning of casser les pieds has to do with bothering somebody by an unwelcomed physical presence.
Related expressions and verbs
- Se prendre la tête – to get worked up
- Pomper l’air à quelqu’un to bore someone to death
- Taper sur les nerfs à quelqu’un (Informal) to get on someone’s nerves
- Agacer: To irritate, to annoy, to get on somebody’s nerves
- Énerver To annoy, to irritate
- Embêter To bother, to annoy
- Ennuyer To bore, to annoy, to bother
References
