se faire un sang d’encre

The French expression “se faire un sang d’encre” translates literally to “to turn your blood into ink”. This is an idiom which has a meaning that’s impossible to guess. It means:

• to be worried sick
• to be worried to death

A French definition is simply “s’inquiéter beaucoup”, which means to worry a lot.

Here’s an example sentence:

• Jacques faisait de l’alpinisme dans l’Himalaya et quand il n’a pas contacé sa famille apres une semaine, ils se faisaient un sang d’encre. Jacques was mountain climbing in the Himalayas and when he didn’t contact his family after one week they were worried sick.

There are some synonymous expressions:

• se faire du mauvais sang – Literally “to make bad blood”
• se faire du souci – Literally “to make worries”

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