French Expression of the Day: Ça fait des lustres

This French expression doesn't have anything to do with chandeliers...

This French expression is a good one to use if you haven't seen someone in a long time.

The expression ça fait des lustres , roughly pronounced sah feh day loostr (listen here ), literally translates to "it's been chandeliers", but in reality it means "it's been ages". It is used when something happened a long time ago or when you have not seen or done something for a while.

The French word lustre comes from the Latin lustrum , a term used in Ancient Rome for a purification ceremony held every five years by the censors, after they had completed the official census of Roman citizens. The word later came to refer, by extension, to a period of five years.

So when you say ça fait des lustres , you are literally talking about several five-year periods, in other words, many years. The expression eventually took on its modern meaning of “it’s been ages” or “it’s been a very long time”.

The expression is sometimes compared to belle lurette , another French way of talking about a long period of time. But the two have completely different origins. Lurette is a diminutive form of the Old French heurette , itself derived from heure (hour). While it originally referred to a short period of time, its meaning eventually evolved to signify a long time.

Lustre in French also refers to a pendant light, often featuring several arms or crystals. And the verb lustrer means to make any kind of surface shiny or smooth.

You may have assumed that 'chandelier' - the kind of fancy light fitting seen in historic homes or castles - would be the same in French. In fact, however, un chandelier means a candlestick in modern French.

Ça fait des lustres que je ne l’ai pas vu. - I haven’t seen him/her in ages.

Ça fait des lustres qu’on habite ici. - We’ve lived here for a very long time.

Ça fait des lustres que je n’ai pas pris le train. - I haven’t taken the train in forever.