How do you say “Open a can of worms” in French?
The closest natural French equivalent is ouvrir la boîte de Pandore, which literally means “to open Pandora's box”. English speakers use open a can of worms to mean to start dealing with something that creates further difficult problems. Often sounds more serious than the English phrase. Register: neutral. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural French
ouvrir la boîte de Pandore
/uvʁiʁ la bwat də pɑ̃dɔʁ/
- Literal meaning
- “to open Pandora's box”
- Register
- neutral
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
91 out of 100
What a native French speaker would actually say
French uses Pandora's box for an action that releases a series of troubles. It works well when a discovery or decision has consequences nobody can easily control.
For a minor administrative tangle, “créer toute une série de problèmes” may be enough. The mythological expression can make small complications sound dramatic.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone4 out of 5
- Context4 out of 5
- Literal similarity2 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
What are other ways to say it in French?
créer toute une série de problèmes
Literally: “to create a whole series of problems”
A less dramatic option for ordinary complications.
In context
English
Reopening the inheritance dispute opened a can of worms.
French
Relancer le conflit sur l'héritage a ouvert la boîte de Pandore.
English
That investigation could open a can of worms.
French
Cette enquête pourrait ouvrir la boîte de Pandore.
Related expressions
- What “Open a can of worms” means in English
- The tip of the iceberg, A small visible part of a much bigger problem.
Last updated 2026-09-19