This French expression doesn’t exactly mean there is actual water in gas.
Why do I need to know il y a de l’eau dans le gaz?
This French expression can be used anytime you feel some sort of tension.
What does it mean?
The expression il y a de l’eau dans le gaz, roughly pronounced eel y ah duh loh dahn luh gaz (listen here), translates literally to “there is water in the gas”.
But it is actually used to describe “tension in a relationship”.
It is often used when a people are arguing, it could also be used in the workplace when colleagues are not getting along or when a situation feels strained and nobody has openly argued yet.
READ MORE: 36 vital phrases to use in the French workplace
This expression dates back to the 19th century, when homes were first being connected to town gas networks. At the time, gas was produced from coal and contained large amounts of water vapour. This moisture could condense inside the pipes, creating pockets of water that sometimes blocked the flow of gas and, in some cases, even caused small explosions.
When this happened, people would say that there was de l’eau dans le gaz (water in the gas). The expression was later adopted figuratively, often with a touch of humour, to describe a situation in which tensions were building and things risked going wrong. It has survived to this day, even though coal gas was replaced by natural gas during the 20th century.
Use it like this
Depuis quelques semaines, il y a de l’eau dans le gaz entre eux. – Things have been tense between them for a few weeks.
Je ne sais pas ce qui s’est passé, mais il y a de l’eau dans le gaz au bureau. – I don’t know what happened, but there’s tension in the office.
On sent qu’il y a de l’eau dans le gaz dans leur couple. Ils ne s’adressent presque plus la parole. – You can tell there are problems in their relationship. They barely talk to each other
