The French expression “ne pas arriver à la cheville de quelqu’un” translates literally to “to not arrive at somebody’s angle”.
English meaning:
- to not measure up to somebody
- cannot hold a candle to somebody
- to not be have the man/woman somebody is
A French meaning is “être bien moins bon que quelqu’un”, to be significantly worse than somebody else.
Example sentence:
- Nous avons un nouveau chef mais il n’arrive pas au cheville du précédent. We have a new boss but he doesn’t measure up to the predecessor.
Synonymous expression:
- être à la hauteur -> Je ne serai jamais à la hauteur de mon précédent. Je devrais quitter tout de suite! I’ll never measure up to my predecessor. I should leave now!
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