Really interesting article, Séverine.

I wonder if we can translate <em>locutions</em> <em></em>as idioms in English? I guess they don't correspond exactly, but a lot of the examples you give of locutions seem to be similar to idioms. Idioms are expressions which don't make sense literally, but have meaning as a unit. e.g. "Take a seat."  - (Meaning: Sit down).

So, perhaps <em>locutions </em>are the same as idioms and sayings?

P.S English also says "as hungry as a wolf", it does not usually say "as hungry as a bear".

Super comme article Séverine ! Très utile pour ceux qui apprennent notre langue :)

Merci beaucoup!  Tres tres interessant!!

To Rosia, when the bear wakes up he is very very hungry.. so "hungry as a bear".

Re: bear/wolf

I always thought that in English it was wolf: a famished wolf, to wolf it down, the wolf at the door, (all expressing hunger, urgency and lack) whereas a bear can go up to a hundred days without food.

Thanks to you all for these comments, it's very encouraging for me. I'm already thinking of another article subject. I see however some defects there, or points which are not very clear. For example, to answer to Tracy, and although I know that my english is not very good, I know that "un loup" is "a wolf". I did not want to translate literally, but I tried to choose the closest expression. Where french says "I have a wolf hunger", english says "I'm hungry as a bear". It teaches me I must be more precise. I did not gave the translations of all "locutions", to let students make their own research, because I think it's very important in the learning process, but if you have difficulties to understand some of them, even after looking for explanations, feel free to ask me, I will allways be glad to answer. Thank you so much again.