Provençal expression

D'uno óulivo au cuou, ti fa un litro d'òli

Feelings

Literal translation

from one olive at the backside, he makes you a liter of oil

Meaning

he's terrified, a real coward

Explanation

The image is deliberately exaggerated and burlesque: it claims that a single olive lodged in the cuou, the backside, would be enough, through sheer nervous contraction caused by fear, to squeeze out a full liter of olive oil, an obviously absurd quantity for one tiny fruit. This comic hyperbole describes someone so extremely cowardly that they react to the slightest threat, even one as minor as an olive, with an outsized physical clenching, as though their whole body seized up violently from panic. The expression belongs to a thoroughly familiar, burlesque register, typical of Provençal humor that likes to push an image to the point of absurdity for laughs while still driving home the character trait being mocked. It is said of a notorious coward, someone whose fear becomes a running joke among friends, precisely because their reaction always wildly outstrips what the actual situation would call for.

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Other expressions on the same theme

Èstre gounfle/gounfloto feel heavy-hearted, sad, anxious Faire de conte/de comte de Mèste Arnaudto make muddled, misleading calculations Rire à si peta l'emboulìgouto laugh long and loud S'estrassa dóu rireto laugh until one can't breathe Si faire uno fourro de rireto have a good laugh Si faire uno pèu de rireto have a good laugh