In the latest segment of Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan, Alex uses a phrase whose meaning may surprise you:

Mais bon, c'était pour la bonne cause. Tu m'étonnes. Regarde.

But OK, it was for a good cause. You're not kidding. Look.

Captions 7-8, Le Jour où tout a basculé - J'ai piégé mon fan - Part 7

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The literal translation of tu m'étonnes is "you surprise me," but it's often used as a set phrase meaning "you're not kidding," "no kidding," or "tell me something I don't know." Used in this way, it has the opposite meaning of its literal translation—the person is not surprised by what they just heard. Tu m'étonnes is very similar to the English expression "surprise, surprise," which is also used ironically to convey a lack of surprise. 

Sans blague is another phrase meaning "no kidding" or, more literally, "no joke." This one, however, can express surprise:

Je suis né le 3 novembre. -Sans blague! Moi aussi!
I was born on November 3. -No kidding! So was I!

The verb étonner has the same root as the English verb "to stun." It means "to surprise," "astonish," or "amaze":

Sur l'eau, il vit son reflet, totalement étonné

In the water, he saw his reflection, totally surprised

Caption 29, Contes de fées - Le vilain petit canard - Part 2

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Les héritiers de Jules Verne n'ont pas fini de nous étonner.

Jules Verne's heirs have never ceased to amaze us.

Caption 26, Le Journal - Le record du Tour de Monde!

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And the English "surprise" comes directly from the French surpris(e):

Je suis un peu surpris.

I'm a little surprised.

Caption 38, Lea & Lionel L - Le parc de Bercy - Part 1

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Unsurprisingly, the verb surprendre means "to surprise":
 

Tu vas mener l'attaque pour les surprendre.

You're going to lead the attack to surprise them.

Caption 28, Il était une fois - les Explorateurs - 15. Bruce et les sources du Nil - Part 2

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But it can also have the related meaning "to catch," "come upon," or "discover":

Louise surprend René et Edna en pleine conversation.

Louise catches René and Edna deep in conversation.

Caption 2, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Mes grands-parents sont infidèles - Part 8

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Just as there are two words for "to surprise" (étonner and surprendre) and two words for "surprised" (étonné[e] and surpris[e]), there are two words for "surprising": 

C'est pas étonnant que beaucoup de peintres soient venus s'installer ici sur Arles.

It's not surprising that many painters came to settle here in Arles.

Caption 12, Arles - Un Petit Tour d'Arles - Part 3

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C'est un endroit vraiment surprenant en plein cœur de Paris.

It's a really surprising place right in the heart of Paris.

Caption 14, Voyage dans Paris - Les Secrets de Belleville

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Can you guess what la surprise and l'étonnement mean? Surprise, surprise! 

While discussing pigeons in Paris with his friend Lea, Lionel brings up an amusing French idiom referencing those ubiquitous city birds:

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Alors se faire pigeonner en français,

So "se faire pigeonner" [to be taken for a ride] in French

c'est vraiment se faire arnaquer,

is really to get ripped off,

se faire avoir par une personne

to be had by a person

qui vous a soutiré de l'argent.

who has extracted money from you.

Captions 54-58, Lea & Lionel L - Le parc de Bercy

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Se faire pigeonner literally means "to be taken for a pigeon." In English too, "a pigeon" can refer to someone who's gullible or easily swindled. Pigeons get a bad rap in both languages! 

Let's take a look at some more animal expressions and idioms used in Yabla videos. Here's another bird-related one:

Oui. J'avoue être un peu poule mouillée.

Yes. I admit to being a bit of a wet hen [a wimp].

Caption 23, Le Jour où tout a basculé - Notre appartement est hanté

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Calling someone poule mouillée is equivalent to calling them "chicken." A slightly less pejorative poultry-inspired moniker is un canard:

Qu'ils me disent que je m'affiche,

That they'll say that I am showing off,

qu'ils me traitent de canard

that they'll call me a duck [a slave to love]

Captions 6-7, Grand Corps Malade - Comme une évidence

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Un canard is a person who's so lovestruck they'll do whatever their partner desires. Believe it or not, it's also a slang term for "newspaper." There's even a famous French newspaper called Le Canard enchaîné (The Chained Duck), which Lionel discusses in a few other videos. 

Don't confuse canard with cafard, the word for "cockroach." When used metaphorically, cafard means "depression" or "the blues":

Mon cafard me lâche moins souvent qu'autrefois...

My blues don't let me go as much as before...

Caption 8, Debout Sur Le Zinc - Les mots d'amour

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The expression avoir le cafard means "to be depressed," or literally, "to have the cockroach." And there's the adjective cafardeux/cafardeuse, which can mean either "depressing" or "depressed." Encountering a cockroach in your home can certainly be depressing, to say the least!

Though dogs are as beloved in France as they are in other countries, the word chien (dog) typically means "bad" or "nasty" when used as an adjective:

Fais demain quand le présent est chien

Make tomorrow when the present is bad

Caption 3, Corneille - Comme un fils

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You'll find chien in a couple of idioms involving bad weather, such as un temps de chien (nasty weather) and un coup de chien (a storm):

On va avoir un coup de chien, regarde!

We're going to have a dog's blow [stormy weather], look!

Caption 55, Il était une fois: les Explorateurs - 10. Amerigo Vespucci

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You can also say un temps de cochon (pig weather) instead of un temps de chien:

Et aujourd'hui on a pas un temps de cochon par contre.

And today we don't have pig weather [rotten weather] however.

Caption 22, Lionel - La Cathédrale de Toul

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In American English, "pigs" is a slang term for "cops." But the French call them vaches (cows):

Mort aux vaches, mort aux cons!

Death to the cows ["pigs," i.e., cops], death to the jerks!

Caption 5, Patrice Maktav - La Rue

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Finally, they don't celebrate April Fools' Day in France, but rather "April Fish":

En tout cas j'espère que ce n'est pas un poisson d'avril.

In any event, I hope that it's not an April fish [April fool].

Caption 21, Lionel - à Lindre-Basse

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You can find out more about the poisson d'avril tradition here. And be sure to check out Manon and Clémentine's video Mots et animaux to learn some more expressions featuring cats, dogs, and wolves.