Welcome to Expressions bien de chez nous! France is the country of great food, cheese and of course wine. On important occasions, when eating with friends and family, wine is always present. But not only for special events: wine accompanies French people simply for the art of tasting and appreciating it. So what could this expression, which involves adding water to wine, possibly mean?

The history and meaning of this phrase

Mettre de l'eau dans son vin is a medieval expression. It was born at a time when it was common practice to thin wine down with water, a means of making the drink less intoxicating and more thirst-quenching, so as to keep people from losing their senses and committing crimes.

At first, the expression also meant faire passer sa colère: to make the anger disappear, to calm down. Over time, however, it shifted toward a broader meaning: to moderate one's pretensions and ambitions, to be less demanding, to lower one's expectations and accept a compromise. Water in wine cools the heat. And that is exactly what the expression asks of us.

In 1636, the writer Fleury de Bellingen offered this definition: to moderate one's passions, just as the excessive heat of wine is tempered by mixing it with water. Today the passions have been replaced by demands and expectations, but the image remains the same.

When do we use this expression?

This expression recalls the humility of the spirit. You use it when someone needs to tone down their attitude, reduce their demands or accept that they cannot always get everything they want. It applies to negotiations, disagreements, professional situations and personal relationships alike.

"Si tu veux qu'on arrive à un accord, tu vas devoir mettre un peu d'eau dans ton vin."
If you want us to reach an agreement, you are going to have to lower your expectations a little.

The expression also appears in literature. In Stupeur et Tremblements by Amélie Nothomb, the narrator uses it in a striking way to describe how childhood ambitions give way to more realistic aspirations:

"Moi, quand j'étais petite, je voulais devenir Dieu. Le Dieu des chrétiens, avec un grand D. Vers l'âge de cinq ans, j'ai compris que mon ambition était irréalisable. Alors, j'ai mis un peu d'eau dans mon vin et j'ai décidé de devenir le Christ."
When I was little, I wanted to become God. The Christian God, with a capital G. Around the age of five, I realised my ambition was unachievable. So I lowered my expectations and decided to become Christ instead.
Amélie Nothomb, Stupeur et Tremblements, Éditions Albin Michel, Paris, 1999

The humour is dark and perfectly French. The person once aimed for the absolute and, upon realising it was out of reach, simply settled for the next best thing. That is mettre de l'eau dans son vin in its most vivid form.

Keep exploring French expressions

Mettre de l'eau dans son vin is a wonderfully French expression: rooted in the culture of wine, grounded in centuries of history and still perfectly relevant in everyday conversation. Have you ever faced a situation where you had to moderate your expectations? Do you have a similar expression in your own language?

Discover more expressions like this one in our French expressions from Bordeaux series. And if you want to use them naturally in conversation, our French language courses in Bordeaux are the perfect place to practise. You can also test yourself with our online quizzes on French expressions.

In Bordeaux, you will never need to mettre de l'eau dans ton vin when it comes to quality. Come and discover the city through our cultural activities in Bordeaux.

Channel Trotters: French in Bordeaux