D.

Dame

_Une grande dame de par le monde_ = A great lady in the eyes of the world.

[This should be written _Une grande dame de la part du monde_. Littré points out that the error in spelling _par_ for _part_ is a very old one; it would appear to date from the thirteenth century from the examples he quotes. _De par le monde_ must be derived from _de parte mundi_, as _de per_ was never used.]

Damer

_Damer le pion à quelqu’un_ = To outwit some one.

[From the game of draughts, _dame_ = a king, _pion_ = a man.]

Damner

_Cet homme est son âme damnée_ = That man does his dirty work for him, is his tool.

[The man who does the dirty work knows he is damning his soul by doing it, but does it all the same for the money or interest it brings him.]

Danger

_Il n’y a pas de danger_ = No fear of that; Don’t you fret!

Danser

_Il ne sait sur quel pied danser_ = He does not know which way to turn.

_Il en dansera en l’air_ = He will swing for it.

_Danser devant le buffet_ = To have nothing to eat.

Dater

_Cet événement date de loin_ = That event happened long ago.

Dé

_A vous le dé_ = It is your turn to play (at dice). [See _Avoir_.]

_Ne nous flattez pas le dé_ = Speak out without any reserve.

[_Flatter le dé_ is to let the dice slide gently out of the box.]

“_Car madame à jaser tient le dé tout le jour_” = Madame engrosses the conversation all day long. [MOLIÈRE, _Tartufe_, i. 1.]

Débandade

_Ils laissèrent tout à la débandade_ = They left all at sixes and sevens, in confusion.

_Fuir à la débandade_ = To fly helter-skelter.

Débit

_Le ministre lui a accordé un débit de tabac_ = The minister has given him a license to sell tobacco.

[The sale of tobacco, snuff, gunpowder, and cards is a Government monopoly in France.]

Debout

*_Mieux vaut goujat debout qu’empereur enterré_ = “A living dog is better than a dead lion.”--Ecclesiastes ix. 4.

[LA FONTAINE, _La Matrone d’Éphèse_. _Goujat_ first meant a soldier’s servant (as here), now it means a hodman, or bricklayer’s apprentice, hence a vulgar, coarse fellow, a bungler.]

_Cela ne tient pas debout_ = That won’t hold water.

Débrider

_Il a écrit vingt pages sans débrider_ = He has written twenty pages at a stretch.

Déchausser

_Il ne faut pas se déchausser pour manger cela_ = It is not worth while sitting down to eat that.

[The ancients were in the habit of reclining bare-foot at their meals.]

Décoiffer

*_Décoiffer (Découvrir) St. Pierre pour coiffer St. Paul_ = To rob Peter to pay Paul.

Découvrir

_On a découvert le pot aux roses_ = They have discovered the mystery, the secret.

_Être à découvert_ = To be unprotected, undisguised.

Décrocher

_Un décrochez-moi-ça_ (pop.) = A reach-me-down (second-hand garment).

Dedans

_Elle est tout en dedans_ = She is not communicative.

_On l’a mis dedans_ (fam.) = 1. They took him in (_i.e._ they deceived him). 2. They ran him in (_i.e._ they put him in prison).

[The second meaning is more often translated: “On l’a coffré.”]

_Comme un nigaud, j’ai donné dedans_ = Like a goose, I fell into the trap.

_Je ne sais si je suis dedans ou dehors_ = I do not know which side to take; I do not know whether I have made a profit or not.

Défaire

_Il a le visage défait_ = He has a pale, worn-out look.

Défaite

_Cette marchandise est d’une bonne défaite_ = These goods have a quick sale.

Défaut

_Attaquez-le au défaut de la cuirasse_ = Attack him on his weak point.

Défense

_Défense d’afficher_ = Stick no bills.

_Défense d’entrer_ = No admittance.

_Défense d’entrer sous peine d’amende_ = Trespassers will be prosecuted.

Dégainer

_Être brave jusqu’au dégainer_ = To be brave until it come to blows.

[_Dégainer_ = to unsheathe a sword.]

Dégourdir

_Ils auront à se dégourdir ou à déguerpir_ = They will either have to wake up or to clear out.

_Se dégourdir les jambes_ = To stretch one’s legs; To go out for a run.

Dégoûter

_Faire le dégoûté_ = To be fastidious, dainty.

_Si j’avais la fortune de Rothschild, je serais content._--_Vous n’êtes pas dégoûté!_ = If I had Rothschild’s fortune I should be satisfied.--I should rather think so!

Dehors

_Sauver le dehors_ = To save appearances.

_Il n’a pas de dehors_ = His personal appearance is not prepossessing; He looks nobody.

Délit

_En flagrant délit_ = In the very act; red-handed.

[Lat. _In flagrante delicto._]

Déloger

_Déloger sans tambour ni trompette_ = To leave without beat of drum.

Demain

_Avec lui c’est toujours demain_ = He always procrastinates.

Demandeur

*_A beau demandeur beau refuseur_ = Diamond cut diamond.

[_i.e._ “If you are not ashamed to ask, I am not ashamed to refuse.”]

Démanger

_La langue lui démange_ = He longs to speak; He is dying to put in a word.

Denier

_Cet homme n’a pas un denier vaillant_ = That man is not worth a brass farthing.

_Rendre compte à livres, sous et deniers_ = To give an account to the uttermost farthing.

Dent

_J’ai les dents bien longues aujourd’hui_ = I am very hungry to-day.

_Je suis sur les dents_ = I am done up.

_J’ai une dent contre lui_ = I have a grudge against him.

[Also: _Je lui garde un chien de ma chienne_ (pop.).]

_Autant prendre la lune avec les dents_ = You might just as well try and scale the moon.

_Manger du bout des dents_ = To eat without an appetite; To eat daintily.

[“Dente superbo.”--HORACE, _Satires_, ii. 6, 87. Compare: _rire du bout des dents_.]

_Déchirer quelqu’un à belles dents_ = To tear a person’s reputation to shreds.

[Also more forcibly: _Passer quelqu’un à tabac._]

Dépense

*_Les folles dépenses refroidissent la cuisine_ = Wilful waste makes woeful want.

Déplaire

_Qu’il ne vous en déplaise_ = With your permission; By your leave; If you’ll allow me; An it please you.

[Sometimes shortened to: _Ne vous déplaise_, as in LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, i. 1. The sense is often ironical, and means, “whether you like it or not.”]

Dépourvu

_Au dépourvu_ = Unprepared.

Dératé

_Courir comme un dératé_ = To go like a shot; To run like mad.

[_Rate_=spleen. The Greeks believed that men and animals ran faster if their spleen was removed. “On sait que l’extirpation de la rate se pratiquait chez les coureurs d’antiquité pour éviter l’essoufflement.”--COUVREUR, _Les Merveilles du Corps humain_. Comp. PLINY, xxvi. 13.]

Dernier

_Une représentation du dernier vulgaire_ = A display vulgar to the last degree; A very low show.

[“Ce que vous dites là est du dernier bourgeois.” MOLIÈRE, _Les Précieuses Ridicules_, sc. 5.]

Désirer

*_Plus on désire une chose, plus elle se fait attendre_ = A watched pot never boils.

_Cela laisse à désirer_ = There is room for improvement.

Désorienter

_Je suis désorienté_ = 1. I am disconcerted. 2. I am out of my element; I do not feel at home; I have lost my bearings.

Desserrer

_Je n’ai pas desserré les dents_ = I never opened my lips.

Dessus

_Par dessus le marché_ = Into the bargain; Over and above.

_Il n’y a rien au dessus de cela_ = That beats everything.

_Sens dessus dessous_ = All upside down; Topsy-turvy.

_Ils ont eu le dessus_ = They got the best of it.

[_Avoir le dessous_ = to get the worst of it.]

_Prendre le dessus_ = To gain the upper hand.

_J’en ai par dessus la tête_ = I am worried out of my life with it.

_Il le fera par dessus l’épaule_ = He will never do it.

[Comp. “over the left,” in schoolboy slang.]

_Il m’a regardé par dessus l’épaule_ = He looked at me contemptuously.

Destinée

_On n’échappe pas à sa destinée_ = He that is born to be hanged will never be drowned.

Détente

_Il est dur à la détente_ = (fig.) He is close-fisted, a miser.

Déterrer

_Il a l’air d’un déterré_ = He looks as pale as death, as pale as a ghost.

Détour

_Faire un détour_ = To go a roundabout way.

_Il est sans détour_ = He is straightforward.

Dette

_Il est criblé de dettes_ = He is head over ears in debt.

[For _criblé_ one finds _accablé_, _perdu_, or _abîmé_.]

_Des dettes criardes_ = Small debts to trades-people or workmen (who are continually asking for their money).

Deuil

_J’en ai fait mon deuil_ = I have resigned myself to the loss of it.

Deux

_Maintenant, à nous deux!_ = Now I will settle with you; Now is the time for a private explanation; Now to business.

*_Deux s’amusent, trois s’embêtent_ (fam.) = Two’s company, three’s none.

_Tous les deux jours_; _De deux jours l’un_ = Every other day.

_Piquer des deux_ = To spur on one’s horse; To rush forward.

Devant

*_Les premiers vont devant_ = First come, first served.

_Il faut prendre les devants_ = One must be first in the field.

_Allons au-devant de lui_ = Let us go and meet him.

Dévider

_Mathurin dévide le jars_ (pop.) = Jack Tar is spinning a yarn.

Devoir

_Il doit au tiers et au quart (à Jean et à Paul)_ = He owes money to everybody.

_Il doit plus d’argent qu’il n’est gros_ = He owes more money than he can pay.

*_Qui a terme ne doit rien_ = No one need pay before a debt is due.

*_Qui ne doit rien n’a rien à craindre_ = Out of debt, out of danger.

*_A chacun son dû_ = Give the devil his due; Every man is worth his hire.

*_Fais ce que dois, advienne que pourra_ = Do your duty, come what may.

_Dussé-je en mourir_ = Were I to die for it.

_Chose convenue, chose due_ = A promise must be kept.

Dévolu

_J’ai jeté mon dévolu sur cela_ = I have fixed my choice upon that.

Dévotion

_Il n’est de dévotion que de jeune prêtre_ = Enthusiasm wears out in time; New brooms sweep clean. (See _Balai_.)

Diable

_C’est le diable qui bat sa femme et qui marie sa fille_ = It is raining and the sun is shining at the same time.

_Tirer le diable par la queue_ = To be always hard up for a living.

_Faire le diable à quatre_ = To make a terrible noise; To play all sorts of tricks. (See _Quatre_.)

_Le diable chante la grand’messe_ = He hides his vices under the cloak of religion.

_C’est le diable à confesser_ = It is terribly hard to do.

_Il a le diable au corps_ = He is never still, quite unmanageable, very energetic.

_C’est un air de porter le diable en terre_ = It is an air to conjure up the devil.

*_Il n’est pas si diable qu’il est noir_ = The devil is not as black as he is painted.

[Or: _Le diable n’est pas si noir qu’il en a l’air._]

_Se démener comme un diable dans un bénitier_ = To rush about half-mad.

_Loger le diable dans sa bourse_ = To be penniless. (See _Bourse_.)

[“Et logeant le diable en sa bourse, C’est à dire, n’y logeant rien.” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, ix. 16.]

_Quand le diable fut vieux il se fit ermite_ = The devil was sick, the devil a monk would be, The devil was well, the devil a monk was he!

[Compare the Italian:

Passata il punto, gabbato il santo = The peril past, the saint mocked.

Also: The river past and God forgotten.]

_Aller au diable Vauvert_ (corrupted into _au vert_) = To go very far away, a devil of a way; To disappear.

[The Carthusians having been given a large building at Gentilly by St. Louis, coveted the abandoned mansion of Vauvert (= _vallon vert_), which they could see from their windows. But to ask for it without a valid reason was to court refusal. So they caused it to be haunted by evil spirits, and the king was soon glad to get rid of this uncanny possession. It is needless to add that the spirits were exorcised directly the monks took possession. It stood in the _rue de Vauvert_, beyond the Luxembourg, which was until lately called the _rue d’Enfer_. As this was then a remote suburb of Paris, the expression was equivalent to going to the end of the town, and thus, very far off.]

_C’est là le diable_ (or, _le hic_) = There is the rub.

_Elle a la beauté du diable_ = All her beauty consists in her youth and freshness.

_Fait à la diable_ (i.e. _à la manière du diable_) = Done anyhow, in a slipshod way.

Dieu

_À Dieu ne plaise!_ = God forbid!

_Jurer ses grands dieux_ = To affirm vehemently; To swear by all that one holds sacred.

Différer

*_Ce qui est différé n’est pas perdu_ = All is not lost that is delayed.

[German: Aufgeschoben ist nicht aufgehoben.]

Diligence

_Voyager par la diligence d’Adam_ = To travel on shanks’ nag.

[German: Auf Schusters Rappen.]

Dindon

_C’est un franc dindon_ = He is a thorough goose.

_Être le dindon de la farce_ = To be the dupe.

Dire

_Pour tout dire_ = In a word.

_C’est tout dire_ = That is saying all, enough.

[_e.g._ “Cet homme est-il honnête?”--“Je lui ai prêté 500 fr. il y a deux ans et il n’a jamais voulu me rendre un sou. C’est tout dire.”]

_Pour ainsi dire_ = So to speak.

_Je ne vous dis que ça_ = I cannot tell you any more, but it is a fact.

[This can also be translated: “I can tell you!” as in “Je me suis bien amusé, je ne vous dis que ça!”]

_Pour mieux dire_ = Or rather.

_Je me le suis tenu pour dit_ = I took it for granted.

_Soit dit entre nous_ = Quite between ourselves.

_Cela est bon à dire, mais..._ = That is all very well for a speech, but...; That is all very fine, but...

_Il est sensible au qu’en dira-t-on_ = He is sensitive to public opinion; He is easily influenced by what people say about him, by what Mrs. Grundy will say.

_Il était dit que j’arriverais trop tard_ = The Fates had willed that I should come too late.

_Quand je vous le disais!_ (or, _Je vous l’avais bien dit!_) = I told you so!

_Ah! vous m’en direz tant!_ = 1. Well, that alters the case! 2. Ah! now I understand, why did you not say so at first? 3. There’s no going against such a reason as that.

[This expression has almost as many meanings as _n’est-ce pas_. The above are a few of them. It is often used ironically.]

_A qui le dites-vous?_ = Am I not perfectly aware of it? Don’t I know it?

_Au dire de tout le monde_ = According to what everybody says; According to the general opinion.

_Je l’irai dire à Rome_ = It is so unlikely, that if it happens I will undertake a pilgrimage to Rome; I’ll eat my hat.

[Comp. RACINE, _Épigramme III. Sur Andromaque_.]

_Cela ne me dit rien_ = That has no effect upon me; I have no desire for it.

Discrétion

_On nous donna du vin à discrétion_ = They gave us as much wine as we wanted (wine _ad libitum_).

Distance

_La distance grandit tout prestige_ =

“’Tis distance lends enchantment to the view, And robes the mountain in its azure hue.” [CAMPBELL, _Pleasures of Hope_, i. 7.]

Doigt

_Je lui ai donné sur les doigts_ = I rapped his knuckles (lit. and fig.).

_Il y met les quatre doigts et le pouce_ = (lit.) He eats greedily; (fig.) He acts clumsily.

_Ils sont comme les deux doigts de la main_ = They are hand and glove together, inseparable.

_Vous avez mis le doigt dessus_ = You have hit the right nail on the head; You have touched the spot.

_Mon petit doigt me l’a dit_ = A little bird told me so.

_Il était à deux doigts de la mort_ = He was at death’s door, within an ace of death.

_Se fourrer le doigt dans l’œil jusqu’au coude_ (pop.) = To deceive oneself most blindly; To put one’s foot in it.

_Savoir sur le bout du doigt_ = To know perfectly; To have at one’s finger-ends.

_Il lui obéit au doigt et à l’œil_ = He is at his beck and call.

_Un doigt de vin_ (fam.) = A toothful of wine.

Dommage

_C’est dommage!_ = What a pity.

Donner

_Ils lui en ont donné tout du long de l’aune_ = They beat him black and blue.

_Je vous le donne en dix_ = I bet you ten to one you will not guess it.

*_Qui donne tôt donne deux fois_ = He gives twice who gives in a trice.

[“Bis dat qui celeriter dat.”--PUBLIUS SYRUS. _Cito_, which is now used instead of _celeriter_, appears to be a later alteration.]

_Le régiment a donné_ = The regiment has engaged.

_On ne lui donnerait pas quarante ans_ = You would not take him for forty.

_On t’en donnera des tabliers propres pour les salir_ = You ask too much.

_J’ai passé quinze jours à Paris et je m’en suis donné_ = I spent a fortnight in Paris, and I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

[This idiom implies movement, excitement, &c.]

Dormir

_Dormir sur les deux oreilles_ = (lit.) To sleep soundly; (fig.) To have no cause for anxiety.

_Dormir comme une marmotte, comme un sabot, comme une souche, les_ (or, _à_) _poings fermés_ = To sleep like a top, like a log.

_Dormir la grasse matinée_ = To lie late in bed.

_Il nous a dit des contes à dormir debout_ = He told us tedious, nonsensical tales, old wives’ tales.

[“Γραῶν ὕθλος.”--PLATO, _Rep._ 350 E. “Aniles fabellae.”--CICERO.]

*_Qui dort dîne_ = Sleeping is as good as eating.

*_Qui a renommée de se lever matin peut dormir jusqu’à midi_ = A good reputation covers a multitude of sins.

_Dormir en gendarme_ = To sleep with one eye open.

Dos

*_Il ne se laisse pas manger la laine sur le dos_ = He is not the man to let himself be made a fool of; He will not allow people to take the food out of his mouth; He will not tamely submit to any imposition.

_Le juge les a renvoyés dos à dos_ = The judge nonsuited them both.

_Il fait le gros dos_ = He gives himself airs.

_En dos d’âne_ = Sloping on both sides, sharp-ridged.

_Je me suis mis le juge à dos_ = I have made an enemy of the judge.

_J’en ai plein le dos_ (pop.) = I am sick and tired of it.

_Il a bon dos_ = His back is broad enough to stand a good deal.

Double

_C’est un double coquin_ = He is a thorough rascal.

_C’est un homme double_ = He is a double-faced man.

Douceur

*_Plus fait douceur que violence_ = Kindness does more than harshness; More flies are caught with honey than with vinegar. [LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, vi. 3.]

_Il faudra le prendre en douceur_ = You must tackle him gently.

Doute

_Cela ne fait aucun doute_ = There is no doubt about it.

_Dans le doute abstiens-toi_ = When in doubt, do nothing.

Douter

_Je ne me doutais de rien_ = I did not suspect anything.

_Je m’en doutais_ = I thought so.

Douzaine

_C’est un poète comme on en trouve à la douzaine_ = He is a very minor poet. [RÉGNIER, _Sat._ iv.]

Dragée

_Tenir la dragée haute à quelqu’un_ = To make a person pay well (_or_, wait a long time) for what he desires.

Dragon

_Cette femme est un vrai dragon_ = 1. That woman is a virago. 2. That woman is very masculine (in appearance and manners).

Drap

_Je suis dans de beaux draps_ = I am in a fine mess, in a pretty pickle.

_Il voudrait avoir le drap et l’argent_ = He would like to have his cake and eat it too.

Drapeau

_Elle a déjà un fils sous les drapeaux_ = She already has a son in the army.

Droit

_Remettez ceci à qui de droit_ = Give this to the proper person, to the person who has a right to it.

_Il fera droit à votre demande_ = He will accede to your request.

_Il fait son droit_ = He is studying for the bar.

Drôle

_C’est un drôle de corps_ = He is a queer fish.

_C’est un mauvais drôle_ = He is a downright scamp.

Dru

_Frapper fort et dru_ = To strike with might and main.

E.

Eau

*_Il n’est pire eau que l’eau qui dort_ = Still waters run deep.

*_C’est porter de l’eau à la mer_ (or, _rivière_) = It is carrying coals to Newcastle.

[The Greek equivalent was Γλαῦκας εἰς Αθήνας = Owls to Athens; the Hebrew “Enchantments to Egypt,” and the Late Latin “Indulgences to Rome.”]

_Cet homme aime à pêcher en eau trouble_ = That man likes fishing in troubled waters.

*_Ils se ressemblent comme deux gouttes d’eau_ = They are as like as two peas.

_Tout va à vau l’eau_ = All is going to wreck and ruin.

[_A vau l’eau_ = With the current.]

_Pendant l’inondation le toit de cette maison était à fleur d’eau_ = During the flood the top of that house was on a level with the water.

_C’est un donneur d’eau bénite de cour_ = He makes empty promises.

_Les eaux sont basses chez lui_ = He is hard up; He is in low water.

_C’est donner un coup d’épée dans l’eau_ = It is useless trouble, an unsuccessful attempt.

[“Ἐν ὕδατι γράφειν.”--PLATO, _Phaedrus_, 276 C.]

_Faire venir l’eau au moulin_ = To bring grist to the mill.

_Faire venir l’eau à la bouche_ = To make one’s mouth water.

*_L’eau va toujours au moulin_ = Property always goes to those who have some already; Money makes money; Nothing succeeds like success.

_D’ici là il passera bien de l’eau sous le pont_ = It will be a long time before that happens.

_Mettre de l’eau dans son vin_ = (fig.) To come down a peg.

*_L’eau qui tombe goutte à goutte cave la pierre_ = Dropping water will wear away a stone.

[Ovid begins a line with “Gutta cavat lapidem” an abbreviation of the proverb “Gutta cavat lapidem non vi sed saepe cadendo.”

“Stillicidi casus lapidem cavat.”--LUCRETIUS, i. 313.]

*_Une goutte d’eau suffit pour faire déborder un vase plein_ = The last straw breaks the camel’s back.

_Nager entre deux eaux_ = (lit.) To swim under water; (fig.) To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

_Faire eau_ (of boats) = To spring a leak.

_Faire de l’eau_ (of boats) = To take in fresh water.

_Laissez couler l’eau_ = Do not be anxious about what cannot be helped; Don’t cry over spilt milk.

_Cela s’en est allé en eau de boudin_ = That collapsed utterly, came to nothing.

[The more correct form is _s’en aller en aune de boudin_, alluding to Perrault’s tale of _Les Souhaits Ridicules_.]

Échapper

_Ce mot m’est échappé_ = That word escaped me inadvertently (_i.e._, I did not mean to say it).

_Ce mot m’a échappé_ = I have forgotten that word.

Échéant

_Le cas échéant_ = Should such a thing happen; If such should be the case.

Échelle

_Faire la courte échelle à quelqu’un_ = To allow some one to climb on one’s shoulders to scale a height; To give a lift to some one.

_Après lui il faut tirer l’échelle_ = One cannot do better than he has (_or_, does); He beats the record, takes the cake.

École

_Faire l’école buissonnière_ = To play truant.

_Faire une école_ = To make a blunder.

_Faire école_ = To found (_or_, to be a leader of) a school of art, literature, music, &c.

Écolier

_Faire un tour d’écolier_ = To play a schoolboy trick.

_Faire une faute d’écolier_ = To make a foolish mistake.

Économie

*_Il n’y a pas de petites économies_ = A penny saved is a penny earned; Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves.

[Also: _Les petites économies font les bonnes maisons._]

Écorcher

*_Jamais beau parler n’écorcha la langue_ = Fair words never did harm; Civility costs nothing.

_Il écorche le français_ = He murders French.

_Il écorche l’anguille par la queue_ = He sets (goes) the wrong way to work.

Écorner

_Il fait un vent à écorner_ (or, _décorner_) _un bœuf_ = The wind is enough to blow one’s head off.

Écot

_Chacun a payé son écot_ = Each paid for himself.

Écouter

_Comme cet homme s’écoute!_ = What care that man takes of himself!

_C’est un écoute s’il pleut_ = He is a man who cannot be relied upon.

[Mills were so called which depended for their motive-power on rain-water and consequently were continually stopping.]

_Il n’écoute que d’une oreille_ = He pays very little attention.

Écrire

_Écrire de bonne encre à quelqu’un_ = To write to some one in strong terms.

Écuelle

_Être propre comme une écuelle de chat_ = To be very dirty.

Écurie

*_Fermer l’écurie quand les chevaux sont dehors_ = To lock the stable door when the steed is stolen.

_C’est un cheval à l’écurie_ = It is a white elephant.

Effet

_Cela fait de l’effet_ = That looks well; That is showy; That makes a fine display.

_Cela me fait cet effet_ = That seems so to me.

Égal

_Cela m’est égal_ = It is all the same to me; I don’t care.

_Tout lui est égal_ = Everything is the same to him.

_D’égal à égal_ = 1. Between equals. 2. On equal terms.

_C’est égal, je me suis joliment amusé_ = Anyhow (All the same), I enjoyed myself very much.

Église

*_Près de l’église, loin de Dieu_ = The nearer the church, the farther from God.

_Gueux comme un rat d’église_ = As poor as a church mouse.

Élan

_Prendre son élan_ = To take one’s spring (before a jump).

Embarras

_Ne faites donc pas tant d’embarras_ = Do not make such a fuss.

_Ce n’est pas l’embarras_ = There is no great difficulty in it; After all; For the matter of that.

_Elle n’a que l’embarras du choix_ = She has only too much to choose from.

Emblée

_La loi passa d’emblée_ = The law passed straight off, by acclamation.

_Il a été reçu d’emblée_ = He passed his examination the first time he went up, without any difficulty.

Embrasser

*_Qui trop embrasse mal étreint_ = Grasp all, lose all.

[“Qui totum vult totum perdit.”--PUBLIUS SYRUS.

Qui tout convoite tout perd. L’avarice rompt le sac. Too much is stark naught. “Oh, the little more, and how much it is! And the little less, and what worlds away!” BROWNING, _Dramatic Lyrics_, ‘_By the Fireside_,’ 39.]

Employer

_Il a employé le vert et le sec pour y parvenir_ = He left no stone unturned to secure success.

Emporter

_S’emporter comme une soupe au lait_ = To be very hasty-tempered.

_Ne faites pas attention à ses menaces, autant en emporte le vent_ = Pay no attention to his threats, they are as light as air.

_Emporter ses cliques et ses claques_ = To clear off, bag and baggage.

_C’est une réponse à l’emporte-pièce_ = It is a very cutting answer, and to the point.

[_À l’emporte-pièce_ = Cut out by a machine-punch.]

_Cela m’emporte la bouche_ = It burns my mouth (_i.e._ it is too highly spiced).

Empressé

_Il fait l’empressé auprès de sa vieille tante_ = He pays marked attention to his old aunt.

Emprunter

_Elle a un air emprunté_ = She looks awkward, embarrassed, affected.

_Ne choisit pas qui emprunte_ = Beggars cannot be choosers.

[“Qui empruncte ne choisist mie.” _Maistre Pierre Pathelin_, 79.]

Encensoir

_Casser le nez à quelqu’un à coups d’encensoir_ = To flatter some one fulsomely to his face. (See _Casser_.)

Enchère

_Payer la folle enchère_ = To pay for one’s rashness, for one’s folly.

[When a man bids at an auction and does not pay for what he has bought, the lot is put up again and he has to pay the difference (if any) between the price it is then sold at and the price he bid for it.]

_Enchère au rabais_ = A Dutch auction.

Enclume

_Je suis entre l’enclume et le marteau_ = I am in a dilemma; I am between the devil and the deep sea.

*_Il frappe toujours sur la même enclume_ = He is always harping on the same string.

*_A dure enclume marteau de plume_ = The strokes of adversity find the wise man unmoved.

[“Impavidum ferient ruinae.” HORACE, _Odes_, iii. 3.]

Endroit

_Frapper au bon endroit_ = To touch the right spring; To hit the right nail on the head; To hit the mark; To touch the spot.

Endimancher

_Des gens endimanchés_ = Folk rigged out in their Sunday best.

Enfant

_Des enfants perdus_ (military) = A forlorn hope.

_Un enfant terrible_ = A child who tells awkward truths.

[Gavarni, the caricaturist, published a series of sketches in 1865 under the title of “Les Enfants Terribles.”]

_Elle a deux enfants du premier lit_ = She has two children by her first husband.

_C’est un enfant de la balle_ = He is his father’s son; He follows the profession of his father. (See _Balle_.)

_C’est bien l’enfant de sa mère_ = He is the very image of his mother.

_Faire l’enfant_ = To behave childishly (on purpose).

Enfiler

_Je ne suis pas ici pour enfiler des perles_ = I am not here to waste my time.

_Cela ne s’enfile pas comme des perles_ = That is by no means an easy matter.

Enfonceur

_C’est un enfonceur de portes ouvertes_ = 1. He is a braggart. 2. He takes a deal of trouble to solve a difficulty which does not exist.

Engrenage

_Être pris dans l’engrenage_ = To be caught in the toils.

Enlever

_On enleva les journaux comme du pain_ = The papers sold like hot rolls, like wild-fire.

Ennemi

_Il n’y a pas de petit ennemi_ = Every enemy is to be feared.

[“Croire qu’un faible ennemi ne peut pas nuire, c’est croire qu’une étincelle ne peut pas causer un incendie.” Sa’adi.]

Enseigne

_Nous sommes logés à la même enseigne_ = We are both in the same predicament, in the same boat.

[“ἐν γὰρ τῷ αὐτῷ ἐσμεν σκάμματι.” St. Clement’s Epistle to the Church of Corinth.]

_À telles enseignes_ = In proof whereof; So much so that.

_Je ne le croirai qu’à bonnes enseignes_ = I shall only believe it upon good authority.

Entendre

_Il entend à demi mot_ = He can take a hint.

*_À bon entendeur, salut_ = A word to the wise is enough; _Verbum sap._

[“A bon entendeur ne fault qu’une parole.”--RABELAIS, _Pantagruel_, v. 7.]

_Il n’entend pas de cette oreille_ = (fig.) He will listen to nothing on that subject.

_Vous ne vous y entendez pas_ = You do not know how to set about it, how to manage it.

_Il n’entend pas raillerie là-dessus_ = 1. You must not speak lightly of that before him. 2. He will not be trifled with on that point.

_Entendre la raillerie_ = To know how to be witty; To be a good hand at chaff.

_Entendre raillerie_ = Not to be offended at a joke; To stand chaff well.

_Il n’y entend pas malice_ = 1. He does not mean any harm; He means no more than he says. 2. He takes it innocently.

_Faire l’entendu_ = To put on a knowing look.

*_Il n’est pire sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre_ = None so deaf as those who will not hear.

Entente

_Un mot à double entente_ = A word (_or_, remark) with two meanings.

Enterrer

*_Mieux vaut goujat debout qu’empereur enterré_ = A living dog is better than a dead lion.

Envie

_J’ai bien envie d’aller à Paris avec vous_ = I have a good mind to go to Paris with you.

_Il ne porte envie à personne_ = He envies no one.

_Il ne fait envie à personne_ = No one envies him.

_Si l’envie m’en prend_ = If I feel inclined to do it.

Envoyer

_Je l’ai envoyé promener_ (or, fam., _paître_) = I sent him about his business.

Épée

_C’est son épée de chevet_ = 1. That is his trusty counsellor. 2. That is what he is always talking about.

[Literally, a sword that hung at the head of a bed to guard one from nocturnal attacks.

“Voilà leur épée de chevet, de l’argent.”--MOLIÈRE, _L’Avare_, iii. 5.]

_Passer au fil de l’épée_ = To put to the sword.

_Qui porte épée porte paix_ = One sword keeps another in its scabbard; _Si vis pacem, para bellum._

Épervier

*_Mariage d’épervier, la femelle vaut mieux que le mâle_ = The grey mare is the better horse.

Épine

_Tirer une épine du pied à quelqu’un_ = To take a thorn out of some one’s side; To get some one over a difficulty.

Épingle

_Il est toujours tiré à quatre épingles_ = He always looks as if he came out of a band-box.

_J’ai tiré mon épingle du jeu_ = I have saved my stake; I got well out of a bad job.

[Une locution qui vient d’un jeu de petites filles: elles mettent des épingles dans un rond, et, avec une balle qui, lancée contre le mur, revient vers le rond, elles essayent d’en faire sortir les épingles: quand on fait sortir sa mise, on dit qu’on retire son épingle du jeu.]

_Une épingle par jour fait huit sous par an_ = A pin a day is a groat a year.

Éponge

_Passons l’éponge là-dessus_ = Let us say no more about it; Let us forget all about it; Let bygones be bygones.

Épreuve

_C’est un ami à toute épreuve_ = He is a well-tried, faithful, trusty friend.

Épuiser

_L’édition est épuisée_ = The book is out of print.

Équipée

_Oh! la belle équipée!_ = Here’s a pretty kettle of fish!

Ergot

_Se dresser sur ses ergots_ = To stand on one’s dignity.

Esprit

_Je suis bien dans son esprit_ = He has a good opinion of me.

_Où avez-vous donc l’esprit?_ = What are you thinking of?

_Il a l’esprit aux talons_ = He shines at the wrong end; He is not witty.

_Il a l’esprit de l’escalier_ = He never thinks of the right answer at the proper moment.

[_i.e._ He thinks of the right answer going down the staircase, after leaving the room.]

_Faire de l’esprit_ = To try and be witty.

_Il a de l’esprit comme quatre_ = He is very witty.

_L’esprit court les rues_ = Wit is a drug in the market.

_Avoir l’esprit bien fait_ = To be good-tempered.

_Les grands esprits se rencontrent_ = Great wits always jump together; We both said the same thing at the same moment.

Essuyer

_Essuyer les plâtres_ = To move into a newly-built house before the walls are dry; (fig.) To experience the disadvantages of a beginning.

Estomac

_Avoir l’estomac dans les talons_ = To be as hungry as a hunter.

État

_Nous faisons peu d’état de cet homme_ = We consider that man very little; We take little account of that man.

_De son état_ = By profession, by trade.

_Je l’ai mis hors d’état de vous nuire_ = I have put it out of his power to harm you.

_Pour un rien il se met dans tous ses états_ (fam.) = He gets very excited over a mere trifle.

_L’État, c’est moi!_ = The State! I am the State.

[CHÉRUEL, _Histoire de l’Administration monarchique en France_, Livre II. p. 32.]

Étoffe

_Il y a de l’étoffe dans cet enfant_ = There is grit in that boy.

Étoile

_Voir des étoiles (la lune) en plein midi_ = To receive a violent blow in the eye, so as to “see stars.”

Étourdir

_Étourdir la grosse faim_ = To take the edge off one’s appetite.

Être

_Je n’y suis pour personne_ = I am not at home to anybody.

_Je n’y suis pour rien_ = I have nothing to do with it; I have no hand in it.

_Vous n’y êtes pas_ = You do not understand it; “You are out of it.”

_J’y suis, j’y reste_ = Here I am, here I stop.

[Marshal MacMahon in the trenches before the Malakoff, Sept. 9, 1855.]

_Cette fois, ça y est_ = Now it is done, and no mistake.

_Je n’en suis plus_ = I am no longer one of the party; I no longer belong to it.

_Il n’en a rien été_ = Nothing came of it.

_Il en a été pour sa peine_ = He had his trouble for nothing.

_Il en sera ce qu’il vous plaira_ = It shall be just as you please.

_Je ne sais plus où j’en suis_ = 1. I have lost the place where I left off (in reading, etc.). 2. I do not know what I am about.

_Je suis très bien avec lui_ = I am on very good terms with him.

_Êtes-vous de la noce?_ = Are you one of the wedding party?

_Êtes-vous des nôtres_ = Are you one of our party? Are you one of us? Do you think as we do?

_Voilà ce que c’est que de se mettre en colère_ = That is the consequence of losing one’s temper.

_Je suis à l’étroit_ = I am cramped for room.

*_On ne peut pas être et avoir été_ = One cannot have one’s cake and eat it. (See _Drap_.)

Étrenne

_Tu n’en auras pas l’étrenne_ = You will not be the first to use it.

Étrier

_Il a le pied à l’étrier_ = He is ready to start.

_Buvez le coup de l’étrier_ = Drink the stirrup-cup.

_A franc étrier_ = At full speed. (See _Bride_ and _Train_.)

Évangile

_C’est l’Évangile_ (or, _c’est parole d’Évangile_) = It is gospel truth.

Excuser

*_Qui s’excuse, s’accuse_ = If you try to excuse yourself you practically acknowledge that you have done wrong; A guilty conscience needs no accuser.

_Excusez du peu_ (ironic.) = Only that? How modest!

Exemple

_Il prêcha d’exemple_ = He practised what he preached; He set the example.

*_Peu de leçons, beaucoup d’exemples_ = Precepts lead, examples draw; It is easiest learning at another’s cost.

Expérience

*_Expérience passe science_ = Experience is the best master; Experientia docet.

[“Experience is the best of schoolmasters, only the school fees are heavy.” CARLYLE, _Misc. Essays_, i. 137.]

Extrême

_Les extrêmes se touchent_ = Extremes meet; Too far east is west; Too much care may be as bad as downright negligence.

F.

Fabrique

_C’est de sa fabrique_ = That is of his invention.

_Marque de fabrique_ = Trade-mark.

Face

_Il fera face à tout_ = He will meet every demand.

_Ce portrait est pris de face_ = That portrait is taken full face.

_Jouer à pile ou face_ = To play at heads or tails, pitch and toss.

_Il le regarda bien en face_ = He looked him straight in the face.

Façon

_Donner un ouvrage à façon_ = To put out a job to be done.

_On travaille à façon_ (of small tailors, etc.) = People’s own materials made up.

_C’est un conte de sa façon_ = It is a story of his own invention.

_Maintenant qu’il est riche, il s’en donne de la bonne façon_ = Now he is rich, he refuses himself nothing.

_Je lui dirai ma façon de penser_ = I’ll give him a piece of my mind.

_Une façon de parler_ = A form of speech; A way of speaking (not to be taken literally).

[_e.g._ “Quand je dis qu’il n’est jamais venu en Angleterre c’est une façon de parler, car il a passé huit jours à Douvres il y a dix ans.”]

_Cet homme n’a ni mine ni façon_ = That man has neither grace nor good looks; That man is as awkward as he is ugly.

_C’est lui qui fait les sottises et c’est moi qui en paye la façon_ = He commits the mistakes and I have to pay for them.

_Il a bonne façon_ = He has good style; He is well got up.

_De toute façon il a tort_ = At any rate he is wrong; Whichever way you look at it, he is wrong.

_Sans façon_ = Without ceremony, without fuss.

_De façon ou d’autre_ = Somehow or other.

Fagot

_C’est un vrai fagot d’épines_ = He is a regular bear.

*_Il y a fagots et fagots_ = There are men and men; All men are not alike. [MOLIÈRE, _Le Médecin malgré lui_, i. 6.]

_Sentir le fagot_ = 1. To be tainted with heresy (obsolete). 2. Not to be quite honest.

Fagoter

_Comme vous voilà fagotée!_ = How awkwardly you are dressed! What a fright (_or_, dowdy) you look!

[“Pour moi, quand une femme a le don de se taire, Eût-elle en vrai magot tout le corps fagoté, Je lui voudrais donner le prix de la beauté.” CORNEILLE, _Le Menteur_.]

Faillir

_J’ai failli tomber_ = I very nearly fell.

Faim

_C’est la faim qui épouse la soif_ = They are both very poor; It is one beggar marrying another.

*_La faim chasse le loup hors du bois_ = Hunger tames the lion; Hunger will break through stone walls.

Faire

_Rien n’y fait_ = Nothing has any effect upon him (_or_, on it); It is all of no use.

_Comment est-il fait?_ = What sort of a man is he?

*_Ce qui est fait est fait_ = It is no good crying over spilt milk.

*_On ne peut faire qu’en faisant_ = Practice makes perfect.

_Faire la Saint-Lundi_ = To do no work on Monday. (See _Lundi_.)

[Colloquially: _Faire le Lundi._]

_Tâchez de faire quelques provisions_ = Try and collect some provisions.

_Faire dix ans de travaux forcés_ = To undergo ten years’ penal servitude.

_Il est bon de se faire à la fatigue_ = It is good to accustom oneself to fatigue.

_Coquelin fait le rôle principal_ = Coquelin is taking the principal part.

_On le fait riche_ = He is said to be rich.

_Cela ne me fait ni chaud ni froid_ = It is all the same to me.

_Je n’ai que faire de vos conseils_ = I do not care a jot for your advice; I do not want your advice.

*_Qui bien fera, bien (se) trouvera_ = Who works well will have a good reward.

_Il ne faut pas me la faire_ (pop.) = You must not try that on with me.

_Combien faites-vous cette étoffe?_ = How much are you asking for this stuff?

_Il aime à ce qu’on fasse cas de lui_ = He likes to be made a fuss of.

_Il fait bien son chemin_ = He is getting on in the world.

_Ils ne font qu’un_ = They are hand and glove together.

_Cela fait beaucoup_ = That makes a great difference.

_Cela me fait sortir des gonds_ = That exasperates me.

_Il faut faire mousser sa marchandise_ = One must puff one’s goods.

_Qu’est-ce que cela me fait?_ = What is that to me?

_Faire huit kilomètres à pied, à cheval, en voiture_ = To walk, ride, drive, five miles.

_Le vert fait bien avec le rose_ = Green goes well with pink; Pink and green are fit for a queen.

_Faire des siennes_ = To be at one’s old tricks.

_Il n’en fait qu’à sa volonté_ = He is self-willed.

_C’est à faire à vous de réussir_ = You are the man to succeed.

_C’en est fait de lui_ = He is done for; It is all up with him.

_Ce qui est fait n’est pas à faire_ = Better to finish it now than to leave it.

_Ce n’est ni fait ni à faire_ = It is done, but badly, (in a slovenly fashion).

_Il fait cher vivre à Londres_ = Living in London is dear.

_Que faire?_ = What am I (_or_, are we) to do? What is to be done?

_Pourquoi faire?_ = What for?

_Comment faire?_ = What is to be done?

_Que voulez-vous que j’y fasse?_ = How can I help it? What would you have me do? It is no business of mine.

_Je ne saurais qu’y faire_ = I cannot help it.

_A chose faite point de remède_ = What is done cannot be undone.

_Laissez-le faire_ = Do not interfere with him.

_Si faire se peut_ = If possible.

_Cela ne fait rien_ = That does not matter.

_Il n’en fera rien_ = He will do nothing of the sort.

_Je m’y fais_ = I am getting used to it.

_C’est bien fait_ = It serves him (_or_, her, you) right.

_Quel temps fait-il?_ = What is the weather like?

_Quel temps il fait!_ = What weather this is!

_Paris ne s’est pas fait en un jour_ = Rome was not built in a day.

_Il s’est fait jardinier_ = He became a gardener.

_Elle se fait vieille_ = She is getting old.

_Pour se faire la main_ = To get one’s hand in (_i.e._ to get accustomed to the work).

_Se faire jour à travers la foule_ = To force one’s way through the crowd.

_Je me fais fort de le faire_ = I feel quite confident of doing it.

_Coquelin sait le mieux se faire une tête_ = Coquelin is the cleverest at altering his features, at making up.

_Cela se fait maintenant_ = That is the fashion now.

_Cela ne se fait pas_ = That is not proper; That is not the correct thing.

Faiseur

_C’est un faiseur d’embarras_ = He is a fussy personage.

Fait

_Cela est de mon fait_ = That is my doing.

_Venons au fait_ = Let us come to the point.

_Mettez-moi au fait de ce qui s’est passé_ = Tell me what happened.

_Il lui a dit son fait_ = He told him what he thought of him (_not_ complimentary); He gave him a bit of his mind.

_Si fait!_ = Yes, indeed! On the contrary!

_Cette place est votre fait_ = That situation is just the thing for you.

_Je suis sûr de mon fait_ = I am sure of what I am saying; I know what I am about.

_C’est un fait accompli_ = It is done and cannot be undone.

_Travailler à prix fait_ (or, _à forfait_) = To work at an agreed price; To work by the piece.

_Prendre quelqu’un sur le fait_ = To take any one in the act.

_Il a pris fait et cause pour moi_ = He stood up for me; He took my part.

Falloir

_L’homme qu’il faut_ = The very man (for a post).

_Il le faut_ = It must be so.

_Il fallait voir comme il était content_ = You should have seen how happy he was.

_Peu s’en fallut qu’il ne fût reçu_ = He was all but received; He failed for a few marks.

[Latin: Haud multum abfuit quin....]

_C’est un homme comme il faut_ = He is a perfect gentleman.

_C’est un homme comme il en faut_ = He is one of the right sort.

[Sometimes in bad sense: He is the sort of man we want to do that dirty work.]

_C’est un homme comme il en faudrait beaucoup_ = I wish more men were like him (because of his straightforward or courageous nature).

_S’il n’est pas un fripon, il ne s’en faut guère_ = If he is not a rascal, he is precious near it.

_Il s’en faut beaucoup que l’un ait autant de mérite que l’autre_ = There is a great difference in merit between the two.

_Il s’en faut de beaucoup que leur nombre soit complet_ = Their number is far from being complete.

[The former of these two idioms should refer to quality, the latter to quantity.]

Farine

_Des gens de même farine_ = Persons of the same kidney (generally in a bad sense); People tarred with the same brush.

Fat

“_Le bruit est pour le fat, la plainte pour le sot, L’honnête homme trompé s’éloigne et ne dit mot_,” = Rows are for muffs, ’tis only fools complain. The gentleman deceived will grin and bear the pain. [LA NOUE, _La Coquette corrigée_, i. 3 (1756).]

Faute

_Rien ne vous fera faute_ = You will want for nothing.

_Il ne se fait faute de rien_ = He denies himself nothing.

_C’est une faute d’inattention_ = It is a slip.

_C’est une faute d’impression_ = It is a misprint.

_Il ne se fait pas faute de se plaindre_ = He complains freely.

_Faute de mieux_ = For want of something better.

Faux

_Chanter faux_ = To sing out of tune.

_Faire un faux pas_ = (lit.) To stumble; (fig.) To make a slip; To commit a mistake.

_Vous faites fausse route_ = You are taking the wrong road; You are on the wrong track.

_Cette poutre porte à faux_ = That beam does not rest properly on its support.

_Cette remarque a porté à faux_ = That remark was not to the point, was not conclusive.

_Faux comme un jeton_ = As false as Judas; As false as a die.

_Je m’inscris en faux contre cette assertion_ = I emphatically deny the truth of that assertion.

Fée

_C’est la fée Carabosse_ = She is an old hag.

Fêler

*_Les pots fêlés sont ceux qui durent le plus_ = The door with the creaking hinge hangs longest; The cracked pitcher goes oftenest to the well.

Femme

*_Femme qui parle comme homme et geline qui chante comme coq ne sont bonnes à tenir_ =

A whistling woman and a crowing hen Are good for neither cocks nor men.

[“C’est chose qui moult me deplaist, Quand poule parle et coq se taist.” _Roman de la Rose._

“La poule ne doit pas chanter devant le coq.” MOLIÈRE, _Les Femmes Savantes_, v. 3.]

*_Prends le premier conseil d’une femme et non le second_ = A woman’s instinct is better than her reason.

[Montaigne coined the phrase _l’esprit primesautier_ to describe this feminine peculiarity of either seeing a thing at once or not at all.]

_Femme sotte se connaît à la cotte_ = A foolish woman is known by her finery.

_Ce que femme veut Dieu le veut_ = Woman must have her way.

*_Souvent femme varie, Bien fol est qui s’y fie_ = Between a woman’s yes and no, There’s no room for a pin to go. A woman’s mind And winter wind Change oft.

[These words are said to have been written by François I. on two little leaded panes in his room at the castle of Chambord, about ten miles from Blois. Brantôme says that while talking with his sister, Marguerite d’Angoulême, he engraved the saying with a diamond ring. Report has it that Louis XIV. broke the glass with his stick at the request of Mademoiselle de la Vallière. However that may be, the visitor to Chambord will see that the words have been rewritten on the window.]

_Ciel pommelé et femme fardée ne sont pas de longue durée_ = A mackerel sky, not long wet and not long dry.

Fenêtre

_Il faut passer par là ou par la fenêtre_ = It is absolutely inevitable.

Fer

*_Il faut battre le fer pendant qu’il est chaud_ = You must strike while the iron is hot.

[“Ce pendant que le fer est chault il le fault battre.”--RABELAIS, _Pantagruel_, ii. 31.]

_Cela ne vaut pas les quatre fers d’un chien_ = That is not worth a rap, a fig (_i.e._, nothing, for a dog is not shod).

_Il tomba les quatre fers en l’air_ = (lit.) He fell on his back; (fig.) He was struck all of a heap.

_Il y a quelque fer qui cloche_ = There is a hitch somewhere. (See _Clocher_.)

Férir

_Sans coup férir_ = Without striking a blow.

Ferré

_Il est ferré sur la géographie_ = He is well up in geography.

Fête

*_Ce n’est pas tous les jours fête_ = Christmas comes but once a year.

_Faire fête à quelqu’un_ = To welcome some one heartily.

_Je me fais une fête de passer huit jours à la campagne_ = I look forward with pleasure to the idea of spending a week in the country.

Feu

_Il n’a ni feu ni lieu_ = He has neither house nor home.

_L’ennemi mit le pays à feu et à sang_ = The enemy put the country to fire and sword.

_Je n’y ai vu que du feu_ = It was impossible for me to find out how the thing was done (as it was done so quickly); It was done so quickly (_or_, cleverly) that I could not make head or tail of it.

_Vous me faites mourir à petit feu_ = You are killing me by inches; You are torturing me to death.

_Il ne faut pas jouer avec le feu_ = One should not play with edged tools.

_Il n’est feu que de bois vert_ = None are so active as the young.

_Il jette feu et flamme_ = He frets and fumes; He is in a great rage.

_Faire feu des quatre pieds_ = To strain every nerve.

_Ce n’est qu’un feu de paille_ = It is only a flash in the pan; It will not last.

_Il a jeté tout son feu_ = 1. His anger is over now. 2. He has used up all his ideas.

_C’est le feu et l’eau_ = They are as opposite as fire and water.

_Faire feu_ = To fire (rifles, guns).

_Faire du feu_ = To light a fire.

Fève

*_Il a trouvé la fève au gâteau_ = He has hit the mark; He has made a lucky discovery.

[It was (and is still in many places) the custom to hide a bean in the cake on Twelfth Night, and the person who found it was the king of the revels.

“Pensent avoir trouvé la fève du gasteau.” RÉGNIER, _Satires_, vii.]

*_Donner un pois pour avoir une fève_ = To give a sprat to catch a herring. (See _Œuf_.)

Fier

_Fier comme Artaban_ (or, _comme un Écossais_) = As proud as a peacock.

[Artaban was the hero of _Cléopâtre_, a romance by La Calprenède, a Gascon. The phrase is also said to be derived from Artabanes, King of Parthia. “Plus fier que tous les Artabans.”--ROSTAND, _Cyrano de Bergerac_, i. 2.]

Fièvre

*_Tomber de fièvre en chaud mal_ (or, _de la poêle dans la braise_, _de Charybde en Scylla_) = To fall out of the frying-pan into the fire.

[“Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdim.”--Compare HOMER, _Od._ xii. 85.

“Thus when I shun Scylla, your father, I fall into Charybdis, your mother.”--SHAKESPEARE, _Merchant of Venice_, iii. 5.]

Figue

*_Moitié figue, moitié raisin_ = 1. Partly willingly, partly by force. 2. Half one thing and half another. 3. Half in jest, half in earnest.

[This expression is often used of a remark that may be complimentary or not.]

Fil

_Je lui donnerai du fil à retordre_ = I will cut out his work for him; I will give him a deal of trouble.

_Ce sont des finesses cousues de fil blanc_ = Those tricks are easily found out.

*_A toile ourdie Dieu envoie le fil_ = God sends thread for a begun web.

_Au fil de l’eau_ = With the stream.

_Au fil de l’épée_ = To the edge of the sword.

Filer

_Filer à l’anglaise_ = To leave without saying good-bye, without attracting attention; To take French leave.

*_Du temps que Berthe filait_ = When Adam delved and Eve span; In the good old times.

[Berthe was the mother of Charlemagne. She was known as _Berthe au grand pied_ from her club foot.]

_Filer doux_ = To sing small.

_Il faut filer_ (or, _Filons!_) (fam.) = We must be off, trot off.

Fille

_La plus belle fille du monde ne peut donner que ce qu’elle a_ = No man can give more than he has; A man cannot give what he has not got.

*_Quand on a des filles, on est toujours berger_ = My son is my son till he gets him a wife, My daughter’s my daughter all the days of her life.

*_Fille oisive, à mal pensive_ = An idle brain is the devil’s workshop.

[“For Satan finds some mischief still For idle hands to do.” ISAAC WATTS, _Divine Songs_, xx.]

_Fille trop vue, robe trop vêtue, N’est pas chère tenue._ = A maid often seen, a garment often worn, Are disesteemed and held in scorn.

Fils

_Il est bien le fils de son père_ = He is a chip of the old block.

_Être le fils de ses œuvres_ = To be a self-made man.

Fin (subst.)

_À la fin vous voilà!_ = Here you are at last!

_À la fin des fins_ (or, _en fin finale_) _vous nous direz quelque chose_ = At last you will tell us something.

_À telle fin que de raison_ = At all events; At any rate.

*_La fin couronne l’œuvre_ = The end crowns all; All’s well that ends well.

*_Qui veut la fin veut les moyens_ = Where there is a will there is a way; If you want the end you must not stick at the means.

*_La fin justifie les moyens_ = Success justifies the means by which it has been attained.

_Il touche à sa fin_ = He is nearing his end; It is nearly over.

*_En toutes choses il faut considérer la fin_ = We must always look to the end; Look before you leap.

[LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, iii. 5. The motto of the Kennedy family is “Look to the end,” or “Avise la fin.”]

_C’est fin de siècle_ = That is smart, up to date.

[This expression came to the front in Paris about the time of the 1889 Exhibition. In 1890 appeared a play called “Paris fin de siècle,” by Blum and Toché, in which occur these words: “C’est un mot nouveau qui dit très bien ce qu’il veut dire. Le siècle n’a plus que dix ans à vivre et, vois-tu, il veut les passer gaiement.” The saying, however, has lost its sense, and is becoming obsolete now that a new century has begun.]

Fin (adj.)

_Il sait le fort et le fin de son art_ = He knows every trick of his trade.

_Plus fin que lui n’est pas bête_ = He who can take him in is no fool.

_J’arrive du fin fond de l’Afrique_ = I have come from the very depths of Africa.

_C’est une fine mouche_ (or, _lame_) = He is a cunning fellow, a sly dog. (See _Compère_.)

_C’est fin contre fin_ = It is diamond cut diamond.

[Also: _Fin contre fin ne vaut rien pour doublure._]

_Fin contre fin gare la bombe_ = “When Greeks joined Greeks, then was the tug of war.” [NATHANIEL LEE, _Alexander the Great_, iv. 2.]

_Dites nous le fin mot_ = Tell us the secret.

_Il a le nez fin_ = 1. He has a good nose. 2. He is far-sighted, sagacious.

_Jouer au plus fin_ = To vie in cunning.

Finir

_Ce sont des disputes à n’en plus finir_ = Those are endless quarrels.

Flamber

_C’est un homme flambé_ = He is a ruined man, a lost man.

Flanc

_Il s’est battu les flancs pour rien_ = He gave himself all that trouble for nothing.

_Il est sur le flanc_ = He is laid up, on his back.

_Prêter le flanc à des reproches_ = To lay oneself open to reproaches.

Flétrir

*_De rose flétrie nul ne soucie_ = The fading rose has no suitor.

Fleur

_C’est la fine fleur de l’armée_ = It is the cream of the army.

_L’affaire passa à fleur de corde_ = The matter only just succeeded.

_Les yeux à fleur de tête_ = Goggle eyes (_i.e._ on a level with the cheek-bone and fore-head).

_À fleur de terre_ = On a level (_or_, flush) with the ground.

_À la fleur de l’âge_ = In the prime of life.

_Il a les nerfs à fleur de peau_ = His nerves are always on the twitch; He is extremely sensitive.

Fleurette

_Conter fleurettes_ = To say soft nothings.

Flûte

*_Ce qui vient de la flûte s’en va au tambour_ = Lightly come, lightly go; What is dishonestly acquired is easily dissipated.

Foi

_C’est un homme sans foi ni loi_ = He is a man without honour or honesty.

_Il est de peu de foi_ = He is not to be trusted.

_Ses ouvrages en font foi_ = His works prove it.

*_C’est avec la bonne foi qu’on va le plus loin_ = Honesty is the best policy.

_La foi du charbonnier_ = Blind faith.

_Je ne puis ajouter foi à ce qu’il dit_ = I cannot believe what he says.

_Ma foi!_ = Upon my word!

Foin

_Mettre du foin dans ses bottes_ = To feather one’s nest.

[Literally, to place hay in one’s wooden shoes to keep one’s feet warm. Another saying is _Mettre du beurre dans ses épinards_.]

_Avoir du foin dans ses bottes_ = To be well off.

_Quand il n’y a pas de foin au râtelier, les chevaux se battent_ = When poverty comes in at the door, love flies out at the window.

Folie

_Ce qui me lie, c’est ma folie_ = Straw bands will tie a fool’s hands.

Fond

_Je fais fond sur vous_ = I rely on you.

_Il sait cette langue à fond_ = He knows that language thoroughly.

_Il est ruiné de fond en comble_ = He is utterly ruined.

_Au fond, il a tort_ = He is wrong in reality.

_Courir à fond de train_ = To run at the top of one’s speed.

Fonds

_Article de fonds_ = Leading article (in a newspaper).

_Il possède une fortune en bien-fonds_ = He has a fortune in landed property.

_Il a placé son argent à fonds perdu_ = He sank his money in an annuity.

*“_Travaillez, prenez de la peine; C’est le fonds qui manque le moins_” = Work and take pains, _that_ you can always do. Hard work and pain Are ne’er in vain. [LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, v. 9.]

Fontaine

*_Il ne faut pas dire, “Fontaine, je ne boirai pas de ton eau”_ = One must never be sure of not wanting some one (_or_, something).

[Compare the proverb that Alfred de Musset took for the title of one of his Proverbes: “Il ne faut jurer de rien.”]

Force

_Tu me payeras de gré ou de force_ = You shall pay me, whether you like it or not.

_Hugo est un romantique dans toute la force du terme_ = Hugo is a romanticist in the full sense of the word.

_Je suis à bout de force_ = I am exhausted, played out.

_Je ne suis pas de votre force_ = (lit.) I am not so strong as you are; (fig.) I am no match for you.

_Force m’est de partir_ = I am compelled to go.

_Il faut à toute force l’empêcher de sortir_ = You must prevent him going out by all the means in your power; We must do all we can to prevent him going out.

_Il y avait force badauds_ = A quantity of loafers were there.

*_La force prime le droit_ = Might is right. (See _Fort_.)

_C’est un joueur de première force_ = He is a first-rate player.

_Force est restée à la loi_ = The police proved the stronger; Order was restored.

_C’est un cas de force majeure_ = It is a case of absolute necessity; It is an utter impossibility.

[_e.g._ “Le témoin n’a pu venir parce qu’il est dangereusement malade; son absence est due à un cas de force majeure.”]

_Faire force de voiles_ = To crowd on all sail.

_Faire force de rames_ = To row with all one’s might.

*_Tout par amour, rien par force_ = Sweet words will succeed where mere strength will fail; You may row your heart out if wind and tide are against you.

_À force de travailler_ = By dint of working.

_À force de bras_ = By strength of arm.

_De vive force_ = By main force.

_Un tour de force_ = A feat (of strength or skill).

Forgeron

*_À force de forger on devient forgeron_ = Practice makes perfect; Drawn wells are seldom dry.

[Lat. _Fit fabricando faber._]

Fort

_Cela est trop fort_ (or, _raide_) = That is too bad; That is beyond a joke.

_Cela est par trop fort_ = That is really too bad.

[This _par_ is derived from the Latin intensive particle _per_, as in perhorridus. In French one finds such words as _parfaire_, _parachever_, and in old French this prefix was separable. Thus, _tant il est parsage_ might be written _tant il par est sage_. So, _Cela est par trop fort_ = _Cela est trop parfort_.]

_C’est un esprit fort_ = He is a freethinker.

_Voilà qui est fort_ = That is rather strong.

_Ça, ce n’est pas fort_ = That is very tame; There is not much in that.

_A plus forte raison_ = All the more reason; A fortiori.

_Il faut que je parle, c’est plus fort que moi_ = I must speak, I cannot help it.

_Le plus fort est fait_ = The worst is over; The most difficult

## part is done.

_Savoir le fort et le faible de l’affaire_ = To know the ins and outs of the matter.

_Le fort portant le faible_ = One thing with another; On an average.

*“_La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure_” = Might is right; There is no arguing with a large fist. [LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, i. 10, _Le loup et l’agneau_.]

_Fort comme un Turc_ = As strong as a horse.

“_Ou tôt ou tard, ou près ou loin, Le fort du faible a besoin_” =

The lion had need of the mouse. [GÉNIN, _Récréations_, ii. 250.]

Fortune

_Chacun a dans sa vie un souris de la fortune_ = Fortune knocks once at every man’s door.

_La fortune rit aux sots_ = Fools have the best luck.

[“Fortuna fortes adjuvat.”--LIVY, xxxiv. 37.]

_Voulez-vous accepter la fortune du pot?_ = Will you take pot-luck with us?

_Faire contre fortune bon cœur_ = To bear up against misfortune; To make the best of a bad job.

Fou

_Cela lui a coûté un argent fou_ (fam.) = That cost him a heap of money.

*_Combattre un fou est temps perdu_ = Fools are not to be convinced.

[Schiller says: “Heaven and Earth fight in vain against a dunce” (“Mit der Dummheit fechten Götter selbst vergebens.”--_Jungfrau von Orleans_), and the Chinese say: “One never needs his wit so much as when one argues with a fool.”]

_Ne faites pas messagers des fous_ = “He that sendeth a message by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet and drinketh damage.” Prov. xxvi. 6.

_Un fol ou bête Fait bien conquête, Mais bon ménage C’est fait du sage_ =

A fool may meet with good fortune, but the wise only profit by it.

*_Plus on est de fous plus on rit_ = The more the merrier.

*_Qui ne sait pas être fou n’est pas sage_ = He is not wise who does not sometimes make merry; It takes a wise man to make a fool.

*_Les fous sont aux échecs les plus proches des rois_ = In chess the fool stands next to the king. (RÉGNIER, _Sat._ xiv.)

[This implies that it is not only at chess that the king is surrounded by fools, but at court too. It must not be forgotten that _le fou_ is called _the bishop_ in the English game.]

_Il est fou à lier_ (or, _fou furieux_) = He is raving mad.

_Il vaut mieux être fou avec tous que sage tout seul_ = “One had as good be out of the world as out of the fashion.” [COLLEY CIBBER, _Love’s Last Shift_, Act ii.]

_La Folle du Logis_ = Fancy, imagination.

Fouet

_Il ne marche qu’à coups de fouet_ = He works only when he is compelled.

Fouetter

_Fouette, cocher!_ = Fire away! Go ahead!

Four

_Il fait noir comme dans un four_ = It is as dark as pitch. [MOLIÈRE, _Le Sicilien_, ii.]

_Faire un four_ = To make a blunder.

_Cette pièce a fait four_ = That piece was a failure, a frost.

_On ne peut être au four et au moulin_ = One cannot be in two places at the same time.

Fourchette

_Une bonne fourchette_ = A good trencherman.

Fourgon

*_La pelle se moque du fourgon_ = The pot calls the kettle black.

Fourreau

*_L’épée_ (or, _la lame_) _use le fourreau_ = The mind is too

## active for the body.

[“A fiery soul, which, working out its way, Fretted the pigmy body to decay.” DRYDEN, _Absalom and Achitophel_, i.]

Fourrer

_Il ne savait où se fourrer_ = He did not know where to hide his head.

_Il faut qu’il fourre le doigt_ (or, more fam., _nez_) _partout_ = He must have a finger in every one’s pie.

Frais

_En être pour ses frais_ = To have lost one’s money (_or_, pains) for nothing.

_Faire des frais_ = (lit.) To go to expense; (fig.) To make efforts to please.

_Faire ses frais_ = To cover one’s expenses.

_Faire les frais de la conversation_ = 1. To keep a conversation going. 2. To be (oneself) the subject of conversation.

Français

_En bon français_ = (lit.) In good French; (fig.) In plain English (_i.e._ without mincing matters).

_Parler français comme une vache espagnole_ = To speak French very badly.

[This is said to be a corruption of _comme un Basque espagnol_ (formerly written _Vace_). The Basques speak French with a very bad accent, owing to their language having no relation whatever to the Romance tongues.]

Franquette

_Recevoir quelqu’un à la bonne franquette_ = To treat a person without ceremony.

Frein

_Ronger son frein_ = To put up with annoyance in silence.

_A vieille mule frein doré_ = Old women have the finest clothes.

Friandise

_Aimer les friandises (chatteries)_ = To have a sweet tooth.

Friser

_Elle frise la quarantaine_ = She is just upon forty.

Froid

_Cela se mange froid_ = (lit.) That is eaten cold; (fig.) That is a matter of no importance; That is easily done.

_Il n’a pas froid aux yeux_ = He is a plucky fellow.

_Il fait un froid de loup_ = It is terribly cold.

Front

_Vous heurtez de front tous ses préjugés_ = You run counter to (_or_, openly attack) all his prejudices.

_Il mène plusieurs affaires de front_ = He carries on several schemes simultaneously; He has many irons in the fire.

_Marcher de front_ = To walk abreast.

Frotter

*_Qui s’y frotte s’y pique_ = Whoever meddles with it, will smart for it.

[Compare the motto of the Order of the Thistle: Nemo me impune lacessit.]

_Je ne vous conseille pas de vous y frotter_ = I advise you not to meddle with it.

_On l’a frotté d’importance_ (or, _comme il faut_) = He got a good drubbing.

Fuite

_Une bonne fuite vaut mieux qu’une mauvaise attente_ = Discretion is the better part of valour.

Fumée

_Manger son pain à la fumée du rôt_ = To see others enjoying themselves without joining in.

_Il n’y a pas de feu sans fumée_ = There is no smoke without fire.

[Though the French form is not exact, it is preferred to “_il n’y a pas de fumée sans feu_” for rhythmical reasons. Compare PLAUTUS, _Curculio_, i. 1, 53, “Flamma fumo est proxima.”]

Fur

_Au fur et à mesure_ = In proportion as.

Fureur

_Cela fait fureur maintenant_ = That is quite the rage now; That is all the go now.

Fusil

_Changer son fusil d’épaule_ = To change one’s opinion, profession, tactics.

[A more familiar expression is _retourner sa veste_ = to be a turn-coat.]

G.

Gaffe

_Faire une gaffe_ = To put one’s foot in it; To make a stupid blunder.

Gageure

*_La gageure est la preuve des sots_ =

“Most men (till by losing rendered sager), Will back their own opinions with a wager.” [BYRON, _Beppo_, 27.]

Gagner

*_Qui épargne gagne_ = A penny saved is a penny earned.

_Il gagne à être connu_ = He improves upon acquaintance.

Gai

_Il est gai comme un pinson_ = He is as merry as a grig, as a lark.

_Il est gai comme un bonnet de nuit_ (ironic.) = He is as dull as ditchwater. (See _Bonnet_.)

Gaieté

_De gaieté de cœur_ = Out of pure wantonness.

Gaillard

_Être sur le gaillard d’avant_ = To serve before the mast; To be a common seaman.

Galère

_Vogue la galère!_ = Happen what may! “Go it, ye cripples!”

*“_Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?_” = Whatever induced him to get into that fix? Whatever business had he there?

[MOLIÈRE, _Fourberies de Scapin_, ii. II, imitated from a scene of _Le Pédant joué_ by Cyrano de Bergerac, as is noted by M. Edmond Rostand in his play, “Cyrano de Bergerac,” v. 6:

_Rag._ Hier on jouait _Scapin_ Et j’ai vu qu’il vous a pris une scène. _Le Bret._ Entière! _Rag._ Oui, Monsieur, le fameux: “Que diable allait-il faire?”

In Molière, Scapin, the amusing but rascally servant of farce, in order to obtain more money out of Géronte, the father of his young master, Léandre, pretends that the latter has been taken prisoner on board a Turkish galley and that the captain demands 500 crowns as ransom. Géronte in the dilemma of losing either his money or his son, at last parts with his treasured gold, but not without repeating several times in heartfelt sorrow, “_Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?_”]

Galeux

*_Il ne faut qu’une brebis galeuse pour infecter tout un troupeau_ = One scabby sheep will taint a whole flock.

*_Qui se sent galeux, se gratte_ (fam.) = If the cap fits, wear it. (See _Morveux_.)

Galon

_Quand on prend du galon on n’en saurait trop prendre_ = As well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb; One cannot make too much of a favourable opportunity.

[This is a parody of a line in Quinault’s _Roland_, ii. 5: “Quand on prend de l’amour, on n’en saurait trop prendre.”]

Gant

_Il s’en donne les gants_ = He takes the credit of it.

[It was the custom to give a pair of gloves to the messenger who first brought a piece of good news.]

_Cela me va comme un gant_ = That fits me to a T; That suits me down to the ground.

Garçon

_Vous voilà joli garçon!_ = A pretty fellow you are!

Garde

_Mon chien est de bonne garde_ = Mine is a good watch-dog.

_Ces poires sont de bonne garde_ = These pears will keep well.

_Il n’a garde de venir_ = He will take care to keep away; There is no chance of his coming.

Garder

_Il vous en garde une bonne_ (pop.) = He is keeping a rod in pickle for you.

_Gardez-vous en bien!_ = Mind you do not do it!

Gaspiller

_Ce garçon gaspille son temps_ = That boy fools his time away.

Geler

_Geler à pierre fendre_ = To freeze very hard.

Gémir

_Faire gémir la presse_ (ironic.) = To print one’s writings.

Gêne

_Il est sans gêne_ = He is free and easy (casual, off-hand); He makes himself too much at home.

*_Où il y a de la gêne il n’y a pas de plaisir_ (ironic.) = There is nothing like making one’s self at home everywhere.

_Il a connu la gêne_ = He knows what want is.

Gêner

_Est-ce que je vous gêne?_ = Am I in your way?

_Ne vous gênez pas!_ = Do not stand upon ceremony! Make yourself at home! Don’t mind me!

_Il ne se gêne guère_ = Doesn’t he make himself at home! Well, he is a cool customer!

_Il est plus gênant que gêné_ = His free and easy manners are unpleasant to others, but he does not mind that.

Gens

*_A gens de village, trompette de bois_ = Rough tools for rough work.

Gésir

*_C’est là que gît le lièvre_ = That is the main point; There’s the rub.

Gibier

_C’est un gibier de potence_ = He is a gallows-bird.

Gloire

“J’aime mieux, n’en déplaise à la gloire, Vivre au monde deux jours que mille ans dans l’histoire.” MOLIÈRE, _La Princesse d’Élide_, i. 2.

Contrast:

“One crowded hour of glorious life Is worth an age without a name.” Sir WALTER SCOTT, _Old Mortality_, Chap. 34.

Gond

_Cela me fait sortir des gonds_ = That exasperates (unhinges) me.

Gorge

_Cette fumée me prend à la gorge_ = That smoke makes me cough, chokes me.

_Il cria à pleine gorge_ = He cried out as loud as he could.

_Il fera des gorges chaudes du malheur de sa tante_ = He will chuckle over (_or_, make fun of) his aunt’s misfortune.

[“_Prétend qu’elle en fera gorge chaude et curée._” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, iv. 12.]

_Rendre gorge_ = To have to pay back money unjustly acquired; To disgorge one’s ill-gotten gains.

Gourme

_Ce jeune homme jette sa gourme_ = That young man is sowing his wild oats.

Goût

*_Des goûts et des couleurs il ne faut (pas) discuter_ = There is no disputing about tastes.

*_À chacun son goût_ = Tastes differ.

[Colloquially the _à_ is omitted and the phrase becomes _chacun son goût_. The Dictionnaire de l’Académie gives: _Chacun_ a _son goût_.]

Goutte

_Je n’y vois goutte_ = I cannot see at all.

*_Goutte à goutte on emplit la cuve_ = Many a little makes a mickle.

*_Ils se ressemblent comme deux gouttes d’eau_ = They are as like as two peas.

_C’est une goutte d’eau dans la mer_ = It is a drop in the ocean.

_Boire la goutte_ (fam.) = To have a drop; To take a nip.

_Payer la goutte_ (fam.) = To stand something to drink.

Grâce

_Faites-moi grâce de vos observations, je vous en prie_ = Pray spare me your remarks.

Grain

_Veillez au grain_ = Keep a sharp look-out.

_Avoir un grain de folie_ = To be a little cracked.

Graine

_Ces plantes sont montées en graine_ = Those plants have run to seed.

_C’est de la graine de niais_ = That is something to deceive fools with.

Grand

*_Les grands sont les plus exposés aux coups du sort_ = High winds blow on high hills.

_Faire quelque chose en grand_ = To do something on a large scale.

Grandeur

_Un buste de grandeur naturelle_ = A life-size bust.

Gré

*_Bon gré, mal gré_ = Whether you wish or not; Nolens volens; Willy-nilly.

_Cette maison a été vendue de gré à gré_ = That house was sold by private contract.

_Il le fera de gré ou de force_ = He will have to do it whether he likes it or not.

_Il venait moitié de gré, moitié de force_ = He came somewhat reluctantly.

_De son plein gré_ = Of his own accord.

_De plein gré_ = Voluntarily.

_Nous vous en saurons bon gré_ = We shall be obliged to you for it.

_Je me sais bon gré de ne l’avoir pas fait_ = I am thankful I did not do it.

Grelot

*_Attacher le grelot_ = To bell the cat.

[This phrase arises from the fable (LA FONTAINE, ii. 2) of the rats who held a council as to how they might best defend themselves from the cat. They resolved to hang a bell round his neck, so that they might hear him coming and run away. But the difficulty was to find a volunteer “to bell the cat.” In Scottish history Archibald Douglas, 5th Earl of Angus (1449-1514), was called Bell-the-Cat. James III. used to make favourites of architects and masons. The Scotch nobles held a council in the Church of Lauder for the purpose of putting down these upstarts. Lord Gray asked who would bell the cat. “That will I,” said Douglas, and fearlessly he put the minions to death in the King’s presence. Compare SCOTT, _Marmion_, v. 14. The Greek equivalent, Ξυρεῖν λέοντα (= to shave the lion) occurs in Plato, Republic, 341 C. The refrain of Eustace Deschamps’ Ballade 58 is: “Qui pendra la sonnette au chat?”]

Grenier

_Il va de la cave au grenier_ = 1. He rambles in his talk. 2. He writes very unevenly (up and down).

Grippe

_Il m’a pris en grippe_ = He has taken a dislike to me.

Gris

_Il en a vu de grises_ = He had an unpleasant time of it.

_Il lui en a fait voir de grises_ = He plagued him terribly.

Grive

*_Faute de grives on mange des merles_ = Half a loaf is better than no bread. (See _Aimer_.)

Gros

_Ils se sont dit de gros mots_ = They came to high words; They insulted (slanged) one another.

_La servante fait le gros de la besogne_ (or, _la grosse besogne_) = The servant does the heavy work.

_Il n’a qu’un gros bon sens_ = He has only plain common-sense.

_Vous avez touché la grosse corde_ = You have come to the main point.

_Vendre en gros et en détail_ = To sell wholesale and retail.

Grue

_Il m’a fait faire le pied de grue pendant deux heures_ = He made me wait two hours for him; I was dancing attendance on him for two hours.

[“Faites vous sus un pied toute la nuict la grue?” RÉGNIER, _Sat._ xi.]

Guerre

*_À la guerre comme à la guerre_ = One must take things as they come; We must take the rough with the smooth.

_Je l’ai fait de guerre lasse_ = Weary of resistance I did it for the sake of peace and quiet.

*_Qui terre a, guerre a_ = Much coin, much care; Much land, many lawsuits.

[Voltaire’s variant was: “Qui plume a, guerre a.”]

_Ça, c’est de bonne guerre_ = He has only used fair means to defend himself (_or_, attack you); He has acted within his rights, you cannot complain.

Guide

_Mener la vie à grandes guides_ = (lit.) To drive life four in hand; (fig.) To live a very fast life.

Guillot

*_Qui croit guiller Guillot, Guillot le guille_ =

“He that seeks others to beguile Is oft overtaken in his wile.”

The biter bit.

[“For often he that will begyle Is gyled with the same gyle, And thus the gyler is begyled.” GOWER, _Confessio Amantis_, 135.

“For ’tis the sport to have the enginer Hoist with his own petar.” _Hamlet_, iii. 4.]

Guise

_Il fait_ (or, _agit_) _toujours à sa guise_ = He always goes his own way; He always acts according to his own sweet will.

H.

Habit

*_L’habit ne fait pas le moine_ = The cowl does not make the friar; The coat does not make the gentleman.

_Prendre l’habit_ = To become a monk or a nun (of the latter, To take the veil).

Habitué

_Ce monsieur est un de nos habitués_ = That gentleman is one of our regular customers.

Hache

_Cela est fait à coups de hache_ (or, _serpe_) = That is done clumsily, roughly.

Hacher

_Je les hacherais menu comme chair à pâté_ = I would make mincemeat of them.

Haleine

_J’ai couru à perte d’haleine_ = I ran until I was out of breath.

_Ce sont des phrases à perte d’haleine_ = Those are very long-winded sentences.

_Il faut tenir les gens en haleine_ = One must keep the ball rolling.

_C’est un ouvrage de longue haleine_ = It’s a long job, a heavy piece of work.

Halle

_Le langage des Halles_ = Billingsgate.

[Also: _des injures de carrefour_.]

Hallebarde

_Cela rime comme hallebarde et miséricorde_ = That does not rhyme at all.

[The usual explanation of this expression is, that, on the death of the verger of St. Eustache, one of his friends--a small shopkeeper of the neighbourhood--wished to write an epitaph for his tomb. Being entirely ignorant of the rules of verse, he composed the following:--

“Ci-gît mon ami Mardoche Il a voulu être enterré à Saint Eustache Il y porta trente-deux ans la hallebarde Dieu lui fasse miséricorde.” (Par son ami, J. Cl. Bombet, 1727.)

But in reality the proverb is much older. It dates from the time of the old versifiers, one of whose rules was that two consonants followed by an _e_ mute were sufficient to form a feminine rhyme. This led to abuses like the above, and this rule was superseded by another, that the vowel preceding the two consonants must be alike in both cases.]

Hanter

_Dis-moi qui tu hantes, je te dirai qui tu es_ = A man is known by his company; Birds of a feather flock together.

Haro

_Crier haro sur quelqu’un_ = To raise an outcry against any one.

[“À ces mots on cria haro sur le baudet.” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, vii. 1.

The origin of the word _haro_ is disputed; Littré quotes Diez, who connects it with O.H.G. _hera_ = here. The old opinion was that it was derived from _Ha-Raoul_, an appeal to Rollo, or Hrolf, first Duke of Normandy, and a mighty lawgiver. However, within living recollection the cry of _Ha-Ro! à l’aide, mon Prince!_ was used in the Channel Islands as a protection against force and fraud, when no other defence was possible. See a curious tale in “The Gossiping Guide to Jersey,” by J. Bertrand Payne, London, 1863, p. 15.]

Hasard

_Il corrige le hasard_ = He cheats at play.

[“La fortune est redevenue mauvaise, il faut la corriger.” HAMILTON, _Mémoires de Grammont_, iii.]

Hâte

*_Trop de hâte gâte tout_ = The more haste, the less speed.

[Also: _Plus on se hâte, moins on avance_; _Hâtez-vous lentement_ (Lat. _Festina lente_); _Assez tôt si bien_; and the English popular proverb, “Do nothing hastily save catching of fleas.”]

Hâter

*_Ouvrage hâté, ouvrage gâté_ = Haste makes waste.

Haut

_Tomber de son haut_ = (fig.) To be thunder-struck.

_Regarder de haut en bas_ = To treat contemptuously; To look down upon with contempt.

_Il y a du haut et du bas dans la vie_ = Life has its ups and downs.

_Haut le pied!_ = Be off!

Herbe

*_Mauvaise herbe croît toujours_ = Ill weeds grow apace.

_Votre rival vous coupera l’herbe sous le pied_ = Your rival will cut you out, will take the wind out of your sails, will cut the ground from under your feet.

_L’herbe sera bien courte s’il ne trouve à brouter_ = It will go hard if he does not pick up a living; He would live on nothing.

_C’est un avocat en herbe_ = He is studying for the bar; He is a sucking barrister.

Heure

_A l’heure qu’il est on ne le fait plus_ = Nowadays it is no longer done.

_A l’heure qu’il est il doit savoir la nouvelle_ = By this time no doubt he has heard the news.

_Faites-le sur l’heure_ = Do it this very minute.

_Je partirai tout à l’heure_ = I will start presently.

_Je l’ai vu tout à l’heure_ = I saw him just now, not long ago.

_A la bonne heure!_ = Well done!; That’s right!; Capital!; That is something like!

_Le quart d’heure de Rabelais_ = The moment of payment (_or_, suspense).

[On returning from Italy, Rabelais found himself in the south of France with no more money to continue his journey to Paris. He had dined well at an inn, and while waiting for his reckoning, he packed up some dust in small packets which he labelled, “Poison for the King,” “Poison for the Dauphin,” and so on. The innkeeper noticing these packets and their terrible inscriptions, informed the police, who took Rabelais to Paris free of charge to suffer the penalty of treason. When he was brought before the King, the monarch laughed heartily at the tale and let him go free.]

_Passer un mauvais quart d’heure_ = To have a bad time of it.

Histoire

_Voilà bien des histoires pour si peu de chose!_ = What a fuss about nothing.

_Voilà bien une autre histoire!_ = That is quite another thing.

_Histoire_ (or, _Chansons_) _que tout cela!_ = That is all stuff and nonsense.

_Le plus beau de l’histoire c’était qu’il n’en savait rien_ = The best of the joke was he knew nothing about it.

_Histoire de rire_ = 1. For the fun of the thing. 2. It was only a joke.

Hommage

_Hommage de l’auteur_ = With the author’s compliments.

Homme

*_L’homme propose et Dieu dispose_ = Man proposes, God disposes.

[Also: “_L’homme s’agite et Dieu le mène._” FÉNELON, _Sermon pour la Fête de l’Épiphanie_, 1685.

“A man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps.”--PROVERBS xvi. 9.

“There’s a divinity that shapes our ends, Rough hew them how we will.”--_Hamlet_, v. 2.

German: Der Mensch denkt, Gott lenkt.]

*_Le style c’est l’homme_ = Style is the man himself; Like author, like book.

[“Ces choses sont hors de l’homme, le style est l’homme même.”--BUFFON, _Discours de Réception à l’Académie_, 1753. There has been much discussion as to what Buffon really did write, whether _le style est l’homme même_ or _le style est_ DE _l’homme même_. In most editions after that of Didot (1843) the latter form will be found, whilst in editions from 1800-1843 the phrase is absent altogether. In the _Recueil de l’Académie_ it is printed _le style est l’homme même_, and of this the proofs were probably corrected by Buffon himself. There is a small pamphlet, _Discours prononcé dans l’Académie française, par M. de Buffon, le samedi 25 août 1753_, which is probably earlier still, in which it is also printed thus. However this may be, the phrase “le style c’est l’homme,” which Buffon assuredly did _not_ write, has become a French proverb, and is in everyday use.]

Honneur

_Nous jouons pour l’honneur_ = We are playing for love.

*_Un homme d’honneur n’a que sa parole_ = An honest man’s word is as good as his bond.

_Il fait honneur à ses affaires_ (comm.) = He meets all his engagements.

_Il ne prétend à votre fille qu’en tout bien tout honneur_ = He has honourable intentions towards your daughter.

Honte

_Nous lui avons fait honte_ = 1. We caused him to feel ashamed of himself. 2. He was ashamed of us.

Honteux

*_Jamais honteux n’eut belle amie_ = Faint heart never won fair lady.

*_Il n’y a que les honteux qui perdent_ = Nothing ask, nothing have.

Hors

_Hors ligne_ = Standing out from the rest; Out of the common run; Beyond comparison; Incomparable.

_Ce peintre est hors concours_ = That artist is no longer a competitor (having already received the highest award).

Hôte

*_Qui compte sans son hôte compte deux fois_ = He who reckons without his host must reckon again.

Huile

_Sentir l’huile_ = To smell of the lamp (of poetry, etc.).

_Il tirerait de l’huile d’un mur_ = He would skin a flint, get blood from a stone. (See _Cheveux_ and _Œuf_.)

[Aquam a pumice postulare.--PLAUTUS.]

_De l’huile de bras_ = Elbow grease.

Huis

_A huis clos_ = With closed doors; in camera.