être pendu aux basques de quelqu’un

The French expression “être pendu aux basques de quelqu’un” translates literally to “to be hanging from somebody’s tailes”. Les basques are old-fashioned garment which hung down from the waist. Here are some English meanings:

  • to stick to somebody like glue
  • to be clingy (to somebody)
  • to hang onto somebody’s apron strings

A good French synonymous adjective is “collant” which literally means sticky but actually means clingy. Expressio.fr gives the following French definition: “suivre quelqu’un de très près”, to follow somebody very closely. Here’s an example sentence:

  • La petite Marie est toujours pendu aux basques de sa grand-mère. Elle la suit partout! Little Marie sticks to her grandmother like glue. She follows her everywhere!

In French there’s another wonderful expression for “pendu aux basques”:

  • ne pas lâcher qqn d’une semelle – Literal translation: to not let go of somebody by one shoe sole.

Here’s another great related expression:

  • Lâche-moi les basques!Leave me alone!

more French expressions

Sign Up For A FREE Trial French Lesson On Skype And Get Instant Access To My French Pronunciation Crash Course.

Get the French Pronunciation Crash Course!