Provençal expression

siéu trempa coume uno soupo

The Body

Literal translation

I'm soaked like a soup.

Meaning

I'm soaked to the bone

Explanation

This expression compares the state of a person completely soaked by rain to that of a soupo, a term that in Provençal traditionally denotes not only the broth itself but also the slice of bread soaked in it, a common dish of peasant cooking where the bread absorbs the liquid entirely until it is saturated. The image thus works on two levels: the person is as soaked as that bread swollen with broth, unable to absorb another drop, well beyond mere surface wetness. Trempa, the verb meaning to plunge or to soak, reinforces this idea of complete immersion, well beyond a mere sprinkling. The expression belongs to a family of bodily comparisons that borrow their images from the world of cooking and the table, a familiar, concrete realm from which the language readily draws its most vivid metaphors. It is said in ordinary, familiar register, generally with a tone of exasperation or self-mockery, after a surprise downpour or long exposure to rain.

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Agué de gauto coumo lou cuou d'un paureto have plump, rosy cheeks Agué l'aigo à la pieloto have running water Agué lou bòmito feel nauseous Agué/faire d'uei de bogo/de gòbito gawk wide-eyed, with a blank stare Blaga coumo uno puto borgnoto talk a great deal, and mostly nonsense Es uno basaretohe's an incessant talker