Literal translation
he's a remedy
Meaning
he's a very ugly person
Explanation
This phrase describes, through an ironic detour, a very ugly person, most often a woman but sometimes a man as well. The word for remedy literally denotes a medicine, a recipe, or a cure, that is, a preparation from which one expects an effect, often at the cost of an unpleasant taste or look. The expression transposes this idea onto physical appearance: ugliness is treated the way one would treat a potion unpleasant to look at or to swallow, something tolerated out of necessity, never enjoyed. This figurative use rests on the dark humor typical of many Provençal folk terms about appearance, which favor a roundabout image over a direct insult. The register is very familiar, even coarse, and the phrase is mostly said among close acquaintances or behind the back of the person described, never as a disguised compliment. The word for remedy does not change gender in this fixed usage regardless of the sex of the person described, the phrase always keeping the masculine indefinite article.