Literal translation
to be as deaf as a pot
Meaning
to be stone deaf
Explanation
This phrase means 'to be stone deaf'. The literal image compares a failing ear to a 'toupin', a thick earthenware cooking pot, an object that is dense, opaque, and closed, incapable by nature of letting any sound through. The comparison matches exactly the common French saying 'deaf as a pot', showing an image shared between the two languages, likely through old mutual borrowing or natural convergence around a domestic object universally known in Provençal households. Being made of fired clay, dense and sound-deadening, the pot lends itself particularly well to this metaphor of auditory impenetrability. The expression takes a feminine form for a woman, the adjective agreeing normally with the person described. The register is familiar and common, used without any particularly hurtful intent to point out that someone hears nothing of what is said to them, whether from real impairment or feigned inattention, this second figurative reading remaining possible depending on the tone of the conversation.