French Expression of the Day: Ça fait des lustres

Why do I need to know ça fait des lustres?

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

What does it mean?

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.

Use it like this

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.