Oil : noun THEoil is a fat, unctuous and flammable, liquid at ordinary temperature and insoluble in water, of vegetable, animal or mineral origin.
Arm, elbow, wrist oil: energy deployed in physical effort (strength), bodily vigour.
Elbow grease: tiring arm work. To properly polish a bag, a belt, you have to use a lot of elbow grease (see origin of the expression below).
Hand oil: Money, which always slips through your fingers.
Pumping the oils: drinking to excess.
In oil: free.
Seeing in oil: judging a play, judging an actor during the performance.
Bathe in oil: with great ease, easily. It's swimming in oil : Everything is going well.
A sea of oil: a very calm sea, without waves.
Swimming in oils "being in contact with influential people").
Adding fuel to the fire: stirring up a desire or a desire, leading to an argument, aggravating a situation.
To throw oil: to sweat profusely (thug jargon).
Oil: silver. (Anything bold symbolizes money. See Butter, Grease).
Wine, liquor.
Blond oil: good beer.
Turning in oil: Running or cycling on a regular basis (sports jargon).
Make oil: is said for exhausted players (sports jargon).
Oil extra: Theater extra who is not paid (opposite: butter extra).
An oil: high character (see origin of the expression below).
Oils: important and/or influential figures, authorities (One oil, one large vegetable).
Jump in oil: jump rope slowly.
To make oil: to be very afraid.
Oil stain: what spreads, gains ground imperceptibly but continuously.
(Make oil stain).
Put oil in the cogs: baksheesh; coaster.
To have no more oil in the lamp: to die.
Spin oil: die in peace.
The expression “elbow grease”: The energy, the force, the vigor deployed in the accomplishment of a task.
In mechanics, oil allows the cogs of a mechanism to turn better, with less effort and to have a higher yield.
We therefore understand that, metaphorically, putting a little "elbow grease" can only allow the arms to work more efficiently and produce more energy.
And besides, at the end of the XNUMXth century, the expression was rather said arm oil.
We also said wrist oil but, nowadays, it is unquestionably elbow grease which is favored by non-lazy people.
The expression "To be an oil": To be an influential person, of high hierarchical level, of power.
The exact origin of this slang name remains obscure. What we do know is that at the end of the XNUMXth century, it was said to swim in (among) the oils to say "hang out with influential people". What we also know is that this name comes from the military environment where the oils were first of all the senior officers.
This is why Cellard and Rey, in their Dictionary of unconventional French, raise the possibility of a high-flying joke.
Indeed, among the military, the stripes are also called "sardines", and, below the starred generals, the higher the rank, the higher the number of sardines is also,
However, we know that, in their cans, sardines are bathed in oil. Hence a possible joke like “with sardines, we are in oil”.