Couler un Bronze

Saw the movie "Little Miss Sunshine" last night in the V.O. (the original English with French subtitles.) It was funny, but not as funny as I had been led to believe by the previews and my friends who had already seen the movie. In some ways, the movie reminded me a little of the first "Meet the Parents": a series of comically embarrassing events that are so mortifying that you can't help but feel bad for the people they are happening to.

A few French phrases which are almost identical to their English counterparts but just different enough to make them interesting:

The French phrase for "goose bumps" is "chair de poule", literally, "the flesh of chicken". Makes sense.

The French phrase for "throw in the towel" is "jeter l'eponge", literally, "to throw in the sponge." Also makes sense.

One of the many French slang phrases for "to take a shit" is "couler un bronze", literally, "to cast a bronze". This makes no sense at all.