French Expression of the Day: En avoir gros sur la patate

This French expression doesn't have anything to do with potatoes...

You might come across this French expression when someone is trying to tell you how they feel.

The informal expression en avoir gros sur la patate , roughly pronounced ahn ah-vwar groh sur lah pah-tat (listen here ), literally translates to "to have a lot on the potato".

In reality, it means to be very upset, hurt, or resentful about something. It is often used when someone has been affected by a situation and has feelings bottled up.

The connection between a potato and the human soul, or feeling sad, is not immediately obvious. Is it the potato’s shape, its weight, its texture, or simply the fact that it is such a familiar everyday object? No one really knows.

The expression is generally thought to be a playful variation of en avoir gros sur le cœur, literally “to have something heavy on the heart”, meaning to be deeply hurt or upset. Some have also suggested that the potato’s shape resembles the human heart, which could help explain the connection.

The French patate is actually an informal word for potato, while the more standard term is pomme de terre , literally translating to the “earth's apple”.

When used as part of a phrase, it's always the informal patate that is used, rather than the more cumbersome pomme de terre : avoir la patate (have a lot of energy), mettre une patate (punch someone), or se renvoyer la patate chaude (pass the buck).

In food terms, they are the same thing although you may also come across patate douce - sweet potato.

J’en ai gros sur la patate après ce qui s’est passé. - I’m really upset about what happened.

Il en avait gros sur la patate de ne pas avoir été invité. - He was really hurt that he hadn’t been invited.

Ça se voit que tu en as gros sur la patate, tu ne parles pas depuis une heure et tu as les larmes aux yeux. - I can tell your heart is heavy. You haven't said a word in an hour, and you have tears in your eyes.