How do you say “Smell a rat” in French?
The closest natural French equivalent is se dire qu’il y a anguille sous roche, which literally means “to think there is an eel under a rock”. English speakers use smell a rat to mean to suspect that something dishonest is happening. A French equivalent for sensing that something is being hidden. It need not imply that you know what the secret is. Register: informal. Usage frequency: common.
Closest natural French
se dire qu’il y a anguille sous roche
/sə diʁ kil j a ɑ̃ɡij su ʁɔʃ/
- Literal meaning
- “to think there is an eel under a rock”
- Register
- informal
- How often it's used
- common
- Equivalence
Near-exact equivalent
93 out of 100
What a native French speaker would actually say
The eel is out of sight under the rock. “Il y a anguille sous roche” suggests that there is more to the situation than people are saying.
“Se dire que” adds the speaker’s suspicion. This is useful when you are not ready to make a definite accusation.
How close is the meaning?
- Meaning5 out of 5
- Tone5 out of 5
- Context5 out of 5
- Literal similarity3 out of 5
These ratings are editorial approximations, not measurements.
In context
English
I smelled a rat when the seller refused to show me the bicycle.
French
Je me suis dit qu'il y avait anguille sous roche quand le vendeur a refusé de me montrer le vélo.
English
They changed their story three times, and we began to smell a rat.
French
Ils ont changé trois fois de version, et nous avons commencé à nous dire qu'il y avait anguille sous roche.
Related expressions
Last updated 2026-10-01