The French expression “être un pince-sans-rire” translates literally to “to be a pinch without laughing”.
English meaning:
- to have a deadpan sense of humor
- to have dry-wit humor
French meaning:
- pratiquer l’humour sans en avoir l’air – to practice humor without seeming to do so
Example sentence:
- Jean a fait rire les gens sans aucune expression du visage. C’est un vrai pince-sans-rire. Jean made the people laugh without showing any facial expression. he has a real deadpan sense of humor.
Related:
- impassible, inexpressif, figé – all adjectives for deadpan
Bonjour! My name is David Issokson. I'm based in Victor, Idaho and have helped hundreds of students to learn French via Skype or Zoom since 2014. 
