Literal translation
he's the drum of Cassis
Meaning
he's a chatterbox, hard to stop once started
Explanation
This phrase describes a chatty person, hard to stop once they get going. The fuller version of the saying spells out the image: it's like the drum of Cassis, one sou to start it and twenty to stop it. The drum, an instrument whose player was once paid to announce news or open a public auction in Provençal villages, works here as a metaphor for a person's flow of words: cheap to set off, but costly, figuratively speaking, to bring to a halt. Cassis, a small port on the Provençal coast, grounds the saying in a specific place and lends it local color, though whether some particular local event inspired the phrase or the name was chosen for its sound and fame remains unclear. The register is familiar and mildly teasing, used to complain good-humoredly about an endless talker. The phrase works for either a man or a woman depending on who is meant, the drum itself staying fixed as the point of comparison.