se mettre le doigt dans l’oeil

Se mettre le doigt dans l’oeil is a bit of a rough French expression that translates literally to “to put a finger in the eye”. In a bit stronger language and in Canada the idiom is “se fourrer le doigt dans l’oeil”, which means to stuff a finger in the eye. Here are the various meanings of this expression:

• to be kidding yourself
• to be barking up the wrong tree
• to be entirely mistaken

A French-to-French translation is se tromper complètement or to totally mess up.

Here’s an example sentence:

• Ceux qui pensent que le crise sera bientôt fini se mettent le doigt dans l’oeil. C’est loin d’être terminé. Those who think the crisis will soon be over are kidding themselves. The crisis is far from over.

more resources

• expressio.fr

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