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Chercher midi à quatorze heures (To complicate things)

“Chercher midi à quatorze heures” is a comical French expression that translates literally to “to look for noon at 2.00pm”. Here are some English meanings:

  • to complicate things
  • to do things the hard way

Basically, the idiom means to complicate an issue that should be very simple in the first place.

Here’s an example sentence:

  • Pourquoi est-ce que tu cherches midi à quatorze heures? D’abord tu fais la pâte et ensuite tu fais la pizza! Why are you complicating things? First make the dough, then make the pizza!

Here are some synonyms:

  • compliquer la vieto complicate life
  • embrouillerto muddle, confuse
  • tout compliquerto complicate everything
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David Issokson Founder & French Teacher at FrenchLearner.com
David Issokson is the founder of FrenchLearner.com, where he’s been helping students master French through vocabulary, grammar, and cultural lessons since 2012.

    David Issokson

    About the Author – David Issokson David Issokson is an online French teacher and the founder of FrenchLearner.com (established 2012). He has been teaching French online since 2014 and brings over 30 years of experience as a passionate French learner and fluent speaker. David creates clear, structured lessons supported by native audio recorded by Marie Assel Cambier, a professional voice artist and native French speaker. A graduate of McGill University in Montreal, he has taught hundreds of learners worldwide and publishes daily French lessons for more than 12,000 email subscribers. 📘 About David » 🌐 David’s personal site » 👍 Follow on Facebook »

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