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ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillère

The French expression “ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillère” translates literally to “to not go there with the back of the spoon.

English meaning:

  • to not believe in half measures
  • to not mess about

French meaning:

  • faire les choses solidement to do things in a complete way

Sample sentence:

  • Pour retrouver la forme je n’y vais pas avec le dos de la cuillère. Je mange bien, cours et fais de la musculation tous les jours. In order to get in shape, I don’t believe in half measures. I eat well, run and lift weights every day.

Related sample sentence:

  • Les demi-mesures ne nous ont rien donné. Half measures availed us nothing.

    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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