“Prendre des vessies pour les lanternes” is a fascinating French expression that translates literally to: “to mistaken bladders for lanterns”. English meanings include the following:
- to be taken in
- to have the wool pulled over your eyes
- to think the moon is made of cheese
Culturally, pigs’ bladders were used as lanterns in mines. Expressio.fr gives an interesting definition in French: “To make grotesque illusions about things and people” and “to fail miserable in one’s assessments”.
Here’s an example sentence:
- Attention à ne pas prendre des vessies poru les lanternes: les publicités des candidats exagèrent trop la vraie situation politique du pays. Don’t be taken in. The candidates commercials overly exaggerate the country’s true political situation.
