Published August 30, 2020 • Updated August 6, 2026 — By French teacher David Issokson with native audio by Marie Assel Cambier
Revenons à nos moutons — Meaning and Pronunciation
Revenons à nos moutons means “let’s get back to the subject” or “let’s get back on track.” Its literal translation is “let’s return to our sheep.” This common French expression is used when a conversation has wandered off topic and you want to return to the original discussion.
The IPA pronunciation of revenons à nos moutons is /ʁə.və.nɔ̃ a no mu.tɔ̃/, which sounds like “ruh-vuh-NOHN ah noh moo-TOHN.”
Example sentences
Le but de cette réunion est de parler de l’avenir de cette ville. Revenons à nos moutons.
The objective of this meeting is to talk about the future of this city. Let’s get back to the subject.
On n’arrête pas de changer de sujet. Revenons à nos moutons.
We don’t stop changing the subject. Let’s get back to the topic in hand!
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Expression origin
This expression comes from the 15th century comedy La Farce du Maître Pathelin where a merchant gets deceived in the selling of both a sheet and sheep. When brought to trial, the judge exclaims, “let’s get back to his sheep”.
Related French Words & Expressions
- revenir au sujet — to return to the topic
- le sujet — the subject, topic
- hors sujet — off topic
- s’éloigner du sujet — to stray from the topic
- reprendre le fil — to pick up the thread
- où en étions-nous ? — where were we?
- allons droit au but — let’s get straight to the point
More animal expressions
- Parler français comme une vache espagnole (to speak poorly)
- Temps de chien – awful weather
- Avoir un chat dans la gorge – To be hoarse
- Avoir le cafard – to be down in the dumps
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