“C’est simple comme bonjour” is one of my favorite French expressions. The literal trasnlation is: “it’s as easy as hello” and meanings include “it’eas easy as pie”, “it’s easy as ABC” and “it’s as simple as that”. A French-to-French translation is “c’est vraiment très facile” (it’s really very easy).
simple comme bonjour
easy as pie
Expression origin
Other meanings include “dead simple”, “easy to do”, “easy to understand” and “obvious”. This expression dates to the 19th century when the idea of greeting somebody with bonjour (hello) was associated with great simplicity.
Example sentences
Écoute, la recette est vraiment facile à préparer. Tu mélanges tous les ingredients dans un bol et c’est tout. C’est simple comme bonjour !
Listen, the recipe is really easy to prepare. You mix all the ingredients in a bowl and that’s it. It’s as simple as that!
Il ne faut pas suranalyser la situation. C’est simple comme bonjour !
There’s no need to overthing the situation. It’s dead simple.
Related expressions
- C’est du gâteau – Literally: it’s cake
- C’est facile comme tout – Literally: easy as anything
- C’est bête comme chou – Literally: stupid like cabbage
Resources
French expressions | Lessons by David Issokson
