Having the Blues: When Your Spirits Are Low
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In the Hauts-de-France region, *avoir du brun* means feeling down or having the blues. In other words, your spirits sink: you feel sad, unmotivated, or a little depressed. It has nothing to do with hair colour or paint; it is a local image for a very real bout of the blues. In standard French, it can be rendered as *avoir le cafard* (“to have the blues”), *avoir le moral à zéro* (“to be at rock bottom”) or *avoir le moral dans les chaussettes* (“to be feeling really low”). For example: “Since it has been raining nonstop, I’ve got the blues today.” Or: “She felt down after the bad news, but she’ll feel better tomorrow.” The expression is typical of the region and rather opaque to anyone unfamiliar with it. It belongs to those highly local turns of phrase that immediately sound authentic, with their slightly figurative quality that brings a little colour to a grey mood. Well, almost. Common usage (informal): it is mainly used orally, among people who know each other, in natural conversation. Example 1: “Here, when you say *avoir du brun*, everyone gets it straight away.” Example 2: “You can simply use it—*avoir du brun*—and the message comes across without any fuss.” Origin / context: this expression became established through everyday use in Hauts-de-France, shaped by local habits, oral transmission and the area’s subtle linguistic nuances. Selected type: Translations.
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Where: Hauts-de-France