Today we’ll look at the informal French expression, il fait un temps de chien, which translates literally to “the weather is of a dog” and means the weather is awful or terrible.
un temps de chien
awful weather, dreadful weather
Expression origin
The expression temps de chien is said to have originated from the beginning of the twentieth century, with the dog being seen as contemptible or dirty.
Example sentences
Il fait un temps de chien. J’en ai marre ce cette pluie!
The weather is awful. I’m fed up with this rain!
This example sentence uses personne as a subject, meaning “nobody”. This term is also used in the negation ne + verb + personne meaning “nobody” or “anybody”.
Personne n’aime cette région parce qu’il fait toujours un temps de chien!
Nobody likes this region because the weather is always terrible!
Related lessons
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