“Vendre la peu de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué” is a fun metaphorical French expression that translates directly to “to sell the bear’s hide before having killed it”.
English meaning:
- to count your chickens before they hatch
French meanings:
- trop s’avancer quant à un résultat – to get ahead of yourself with regards to a result
- se féliciter trop tôt d’un succès pas encore acquis – to congratulate yourself excessively before having attained it.
Example sentence:
- Abderrahim parlait sans cesse du restaurant qu’il voulait lancer mais j’avais l’impression qu’il vendait la peu de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué. Abderrahim spoke incessantly about the restaurant that he wanted to start but I had the impression he was counting his chickens before they hatched.
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David Issokson is a lifelong language enthusiast. His head is swimming with words and sounds as he speaks over six languages. Of all the languages he speaks, he's the most passionate about French! David has helped hundreds of students to improve their French in his private online lessons. When procrastinating working on his site, FrenchLearner.com, David enjoys his time skiing and hiking in Teton Valley, Idaho.
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Bonjour! My name is David Issokson. I'm based in Victor, Idaho (near Jackson, Wyoming) and have helped hundreds of students to learn French online since 2013.
