M.

Mâcher

_Je ne lui ai pas mâché la chose_ = I did not mince matters with him.

_Je lui ai donné sa besogne toute mâchée_ = I gave him his work all ready cut out; I made his work as easy as possible for him.

Madame

_Elle fait la Madame_ = She gives herself airs (of little girls).

Mai

_Mi-mai, queue d’hiver_ = The middle of May has usually three cold days (called _Les saints de glace_, May 11, 12, and 13).

Maigre

_Faire maigre_ = To abstain from meat.

_Faire maigre chère_ = To have poor fare.

_Maigre comme un clou_ = As thin as a lath.

Maille

_Il n’a ni sou ni maille_ = He has not got a rap, a brass farthing.

_Avoir maille à partir avec quelqu’un_ = To have a bone to pick (a crow to pluck) with some one.

[_Maille_ (= mite) was the smallest coin in France, and therefore could not be divided. Hence the saying means to have a quarrel with some one. Notice the old meaning of _partir_ in this idiom = to divide (Lat. _partiri_).]

_Maille à maille se fait l’haubergeon_ = Many a little makes a mickle. (See _Goutte_ and _Petit_.)

Main

_Donnez-moi une poignée de main_ = Shake hands with me.

_Donnez-moi un coup de main_ = Give me a helping hand.

_Vous n’y allez pas de main morte_ = You hit with a vengeance; You don’t do things by halves.

_Avoir un poil dans la main_ = To be very lazy (so that hair grows on the palm of the hand).

_Avoir la main heureuse_ = To be lucky at cards (or, at other things).

_Avoir la main rompue à quelque chose_ = To be well versed at something.

_Je le connais de longue main_ = I have known him for a long time.

_Il disparut en un tour de main_ = He disappeared in an instant, in a twinkling.

_Il a une chambre grande comme la main_ = He has a room not big enough to swing a cat in.

_En venir aux mains_ = To come to blows.

_Bas les mains_ = Hands off.

_Les deux armées en sont aux mains_ = The two armies are in close combat, have come to close quarters.

_Je me perds la main_ = I am getting rusty.

_Je tirais au pistolet pour me faire la main_ = I practised pistol-shooting to get my hand in.

_Il y a mis la dernière main_ = He put the finishing touch to it.

_Il a fait cela haut la main_ = He did it with the greatest ease.

_Mettre la main à la pâte_ = To put one’s shoulder to the wheel; To set to (a special piece of) work oneself.

_Les voleurs firent main basse sur tous mes effets_ = The thieves laid hands on all my things.

_Pour cela je vous baise les mains_ = As for that I will not do it; “No, thank you!”

_J’en mettrais la main au feu_ = I would swear to it; I would stake my life on it; I would take my dying oath about it.

[A reference to trial by ordeal.]

Mais

_Je n’en peux mais!_ = I cannot help it!

[_Mais_ is here an adverb, and shows its derivation from the Latin _magis_. The phrase literally means: “I can do no more.”]

Maison

_Faire maison neuve_ (or, _nette_) = To change all one’s servants.

_Il fait des demandes par dessus les maisons_ = He makes most unreasonable demands.

Maître

*_Tel maître, tel valet_ = Like master, like man.

[Or: _Tel couteau, tel fourreau._

German: _Wie der Herr, so der Knecht._]

_C’est une maîtresse femme_ = She is a superior woman.

[One who manages her business or subordinates capably, makes her servants obey her and do their work well, and is respected by them.]

Mal

*_À qui mal veut, mal arrive_ = Harm watch, harm catch; Curses, like chickens, come home to roost.

[This proverb is said to be of Turkish origin. The Spanish equivalent is: “Who sows thorns, let him not walk barefoot.” Comp. _Psalms_ cix. 17.]

_J’ai mal au cœur_ = I feel sick.

_Vous prenez tout en mal_ = You put a wrong construction on everything.

_Elle s’est trouvée mal_ = She fainted.

_Elle est au plus mal_ = She is past recovery.

_Sa sœur aînée n’est pas mal_ = Her elder sister is not bad-looking.

*_Aux grands maux les grands remèdes_ = Desperate diseases require desperate remedies.

Malheur

*_À quelque chose malheur est bon_ = It is an ill wind that blows no one any good.

[“À quelque chose sert le malheur.” MONTAIGNE, _Essais_, ii. 17.]

_Pour surcroît_ (or, _comble_) _de malheur il tomba malade_ = To crown his misfortunes he fell ill.

*_Un malheur ne vient jamais seul_ = Misfortunes never come singly; It never rains but it pours.

[Ital. _Benedetto è quel male, che vien solo_ = Blessed is that misfortune which comes alone.]

_Il n’est qu’heur et malheur_ = That’s the way of the world.

Manant

_C’est un manant_ = He is a coarse, ill-educated boor.

[From _manens_ = one remaining fixed to the soil, a villein, serf.]

Manche (_m._)

_Il branle dans le manche_ (or, _au manche_) = He is no longer firmly established in his post; He is irresolute.

*_Jeter le manche après la cognée_ = To throw the rope after the bucket; To give up in despair.

Manche (_f._)

_Je ne me ferai pas tirer par la manche_ = I shall not require much pressing.

_C’est une autre paire de manches_ = That is quite another thing; That is a horse of another colour, another pair of shoes.

_J’ai gagné la première manche_ = I won the first game (out of two or more).

_Je l’ai dans ma manche_ = I have him at my disposal.

Manger

_Il mange comme quatre_ = He eats like an ogre.

_Il a mangé son pain blanc le premier_ = He had the happiest part of his life first. (See _Pain_.)

_Manger son blé en herbe_ = To anticipate one’s revenue.

_Il a mangé de la vache enragée_ = He has suffered many privations.

_Il est très inquiet, il en perd le boire et le manger_ = He is very anxious, he has lost his appetite.

Manière

_Je l’ai rossé de la belle manière_ (fam.) = I gave him a sound thrashing.

Manquer

_Vous me manquez_ = I miss you.

_Je vous manque_ = You miss me.

_Il a manqué d’être pris_ = He was nearly caught.

_C’est un avocat manqué_ = He is a would-be barrister; He is a failure as a barrister.

_C’est un garçon manqué_ = She is a tomboy.

_Ce serait manquer d’usage_ = That would be a breach of good manners.

_Il ne manquait plus que cela!_ = That crowns all! That is the last straw!

Marchand

_C’est un marchand de soupe_ = He is a regular Squeers.

[This is said of a private schoolmaster who, far from regarding his profession as an honourable one, follows it solely with a view to profit, by having few and inferior assistants and by feeding his pupils cheaply and badly (thus making a profit on the _soup_). He looks upon teaching as the least important part of his work. Of course, this race of men is now entirely extinct.]

Marché

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

_Il m’a mis le marché à la main_ = He told me I could take it or leave it; He made me decide one way or the other.

_Est-ce marché fait?_ = Is it a bargain?

_Vous en êtes quitte à bon marché_ = You came off cheaply.

_Vous aurez bon marché de lui_ = You will easily get the better of him.

_Je fais bon marché de cela_ = I hold that very cheap.

_On n’a jamais bon marché d’une mauvaise marchandise_ = A bad thing is dear at any price; The best is the cheapest in the end.

Marée

*_Ce qui vient de flot s’en retourne de marée_ = Fortune is as quick in going as in coming. (See _Flûte_.)

Mariée

_Il se plaint que la mariée est trop belle_ = He complains that he has got too good a bargain.

Marmite

_Faire bouillir la marmite_ = To keep the pot boiling.

Marotte

_Chacun a sa marotte_ = Every one has his hobby.

[Marotte is a kind of sceptre or rattle with a head on the end, furnished with bells, which jesters carry.]

Mars

*_Mars venteux et Avril pluvieux Font le Mai gai et gracieux_ = March winds and April showers Make way for May flowers.

Marteau

*_Mieux vaut être marteau qu’enclume_ = Better be striker than struck.

_Être entre l’enclume et le marteau_ = To be in a dilemma; To be between the devil and the deep sea.

_Graisser le marteau_ = To tip the porter.

[There is the same idea in “Palm oil.”]

Martel

_Il s’est mis martel en tête_ = He made himself very uneasy.

Massacrer

_Il est d’une humeur massacrante_ = He is as cross as two sticks.

Matière

_Il est bien enfoncé dans la matière_ = He is very coarse, very prosaic.

_La table des matières_ = The table of contents (of a book).

Matin

_Il partira un de ces quatre matins_ = He will start one of these fine days.

Maure

_Traiter quelqu’un de Turc à Maure_ = To treat a person brutally.

[As the Turks treated the Moors when they conquered the north of Africa. See MOLIÈRE, _Précieuses Ridicules_, 10.]

*_À laver la tête d’un Maure_ (or, _d’un âne_, or, _d’un nègre_) _on y perd sa lessive_ = To endeavour to teach a fool is a waste of time.

Mèche

_Il a éventé_ (or, _vendu_) _la mèche_ = He has let the cat out of the bag; He has blown the gaff.

_Il n’y a pas mèche_ (pop.) = “It’s no go”; There is no doing it.

Médaille

_C’est le revers de la médaille_ = That is the dark side of the picture.

Médard

_S’il pleut le jour de St. Médard, Il pleut quarante jours plus tard. S’il pleut le jour de St. Gervais, Il pleut quarante jours après_ = “St Swithin’s day, gif ye do rain For forty days will it remain.”

[Le jour de St. Médard = June 8. Le jour de St. Gervais = June 19. St. Swithin’s Day = July 15.]

Médecin

_Voilà trois médecins qui ne vous trompent pas: Gaîté, doux exercice et modeste repas_ = The best physicians are Dr. Diet, Dr. Quiet, and Dr. Merriman.

Méfiance

*_La méfiance est mère de la sûreté_ = Safe bind, safe find. [LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, iii. 18.]

Même

_Il buvait à même la bouteille_ = He was drinking out of the bottle itself.

[This is an inversion for _à la bouteille même_. _Boire à même_ is not usually used of cups or glasses, but of bottles, jugs, streams, etc. For it implies that the containing vessel itself is being used to drink out of, and not any smaller vessel. Thus _boire à même le verre_ would suggest that a spoon or smaller receptacle was not used.]

_Il est à même de vous comprendre_ = He is able to understand you.

_Cela revient au même_ = That comes to the same thing.

_C’est cela même_ = That is the very thing.

_Faites de même_ = Do the same.

Ménage

_Ils font bon ménage_ = They live happily together.

_Elle fait le ménage_ = She is doing her housework.

Ménager

*_Qui veut voyager loin ménage sa monture_ = Who wishes to go far spares his horse; He who wishes to live long avoids excess. [RACINE, _Plaideurs_, i. 1.]

Mentir

*_A beau mentir gui vient de loin_ = A traveller may lie with impunity; Travellers tell fine tales.

_Quasi et presque empêchent les gens de mentir_ = Almost and very nigh save many a lie.

Méprendre

_Québec, c’est Saint-Malo à s’y méprendre_ (Max O’Rell) = You could easily mistake Quebec for St. Malo.

Mer

*_Ce n’est pas la mer à boire_ = It is not an impossibility; It is not so very difficult after all.

*_Porter de l’eau à la mer_ = To carry coals to Newcastle.

Mérite

_Remplir son mérite_ = To act up to one’s reputation.

Merle

*_On ne prend pas les vieux merles à la pipée_ = Old birds are not to be caught with chaff.

Merveille

_Il se porte à merveille_ = He is in splendid health.

Messe

*_Près du moûtier, à messe le dernier_ = The nearer the church, the farther from God.

Métier

_Il nous a servi un plat de son métier_ (or, _de sa façon_) = He played us one of his tricks.

*“_À chacun son métier et les vaches seront bien gardées_” (FLORIAN, _Fables_, i. 12) = Let the cobbler stick to his last.

[“Ne sutor ultra crepidam” (judicet).]

Mettre

_Mettez cent francs_ = Make it £4.

_Il se mettrait en quatre pour ses amis_ = He would do anything for his friends.

_Il se met bien_ = He dresses well.

_On veut nous mettre dedans_ (fam.) = They want to entrap us, to take us in.

Midi

_Chercher midi à quatorze heures_ = To make (_or_, seek) difficulties where there are none; To look for grapes on thorns.

[This expression has its origin in the old custom, still in use in some parts of Italy, of reckoning the hours of the day consecutively from 1 to 24, beginning at sunset. Hence, noon may vary from the 16th to the 20th hour, but is never the 14th. Voltaire’s epigram for a sun-dial is very well known, but may bear repetition:--

“Vous qui vivez dans ces demeures, Êtes-vous bien? tenez-vous y, Et n’allez pas chercher midi À quatorze heures.”]

_Chacun connaît midi à sa porte_ = Each one knows his own business best.

Mien

_J’y ai mis du mien, mettez-y du vôtre_ = I have given way a bit, meet me half-way; I have done my share at it, now it’s your turn.

Mieux

*_Le mieux est l’ennemi du bien_ = Leave well alone.

_Ils criaient à qui mieux mieux_ = Each was trying to shout louder than the other; Each tried to drown the others’ voices.

_Je ne demande pas mieux_ = Nothing would give me greater pleasure.

_Elle est mieux que sa sœur_ = She is prettier than her sister.

_Faute de mieux_ = For want of something better.

_Tant mieux_ = So much the better.

_Il est au mieux avec son médecin_ = He is on the best terms with his doctor.

_On ne peut mieux_ = As well as possible; It could not be better.

_Vous arrivez on ne peut mieux_ = You could not have come at a more opportune moment.

Milieu

_Le juste milieu_ = The golden mean.

_Au beau milieu_ = In the very midst.

_Vertu gît au milieu_ = Do not rush into extremes.

[In medio tutissimus ibis = _Allez par le milieu et vous ne tomberez pas._ Compare the English: When slovenly girls get tidy, they polish the bottoms of saucepans.]

Mine

_Faire bonne mine à mauvais jeu_ = To put a good face on the matter; To make the best of a bad job.

_If fait mine de ne pas comprendre_ = He pretends not to understand.

_Il nous a fait mauvaise_ (or, _grise_) _mine_ = He looked black (sour) at us; He did not receive us well.

_Cet homme a très mauvaise mine_ = 1. That man looks a regular ruffian. 2. That man looks very ill.

_Il ne paye pas de mine_ = His appearance is against him.

_Ne jugez pas sur la mine_ = Do not judge by appearances.

[“_Garde-toi, tant que tu vivras, De juger des gens sur la mine._” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, vi. 5.]

_Elle fait la mine_ = She is sulking.

Mode

_Elle est ma tante à la mode de Bretagne_ = She is my father’s (_or_, mother’s) first cousin; She is my first cousin once removed.

_Elle est ma nièce à la mode de Bretagne_ = She is the daughter of my first cousin.

[These phrases are used of any very distant relationship.]

Moindre

_C’est là son moindre défaut_ = That is not a great weakness of hers (_or_, his); That is the last thing you can reproach her (_or_, him) with. [LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, i. 1.]

Moineau

_Deux moineaux sur même épi ne sont pas longtemps amis_ = Two of a trade seldom agree.

[“Καὶ κεραμεὺς κεραμεῖ κοτέει και τέκτονι τέκτων Καὶ πτωχὸς πτωχῷ φθονέει καὶ ἀοιδὸς ἀοιδῶ.” HESIOD, _Opera et dies_, 25.]

_Il tire sa poudre aux moineaux_ = He wastes his trouble for nothing.

Mois

_Tous les 36 du mois_ = Once in a blue moon.

Monde

_C’est vieux comme le monde_ = It is as old as the hills.

_Vous dites des choses de l’autre monde_ = You say most out-of-the-way things.

_Il y a un monde fou_ = There is a terrible crowd. (See _Fou_.)

_Vous moquez-vous du monde de parler ainsi?_ = Are you making fun of people (are you serious) in speaking thus? Do you take people for a pack of fools?

_Si vous obtenez cinq francs, c’est le bout du monde_ = If you get five francs, it is the utmost; You will get five francs at the very outside.

_Si elle a trente ans c’est tout le bout du monde_ = She may be thirty at the very outside.

_On ne peut contenter tout le monde et son père_ = One cannot satisfy everybody, all the world and his wife.

[“Parbleu, dit le meunier, est bien fou du cerveau Qui prétend contenter tout le monde et son père.” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, iii. 1.]

Monnaie

_Il lui a rendu la monnaie de sa pièce_ = He paid him back in his own coin.

Mont

_Par monts et par vaux_ = Up hill and down dale.

Montée

_À grande montée grande descente_ = The higher the rise, the greater the fall; He who climbs too high is near a fall.

[“Vaulting ambition which o’erleaps itself.” SHAKESPEARE, _Macbeth_, i. 7.

Also: _La Roche Tarpéienne est près du Capitole._]

Montrer

_Montrer le soleil avec un flambeau_ = To paint the lily; To hold a farthing rushlight to the sun.

Mordre

_Se mordre les doigts_ = To repent what one has done.

_Se mordre la langue_ = To repent what one has said.

Mort

_Il est mort de sa belle mort_ = He died a natural death.

_Il est à l’article de la mort_ = He is at the point of death, at death’s door.

_Quand on compte sur les souliers d’un mort on risque de marcher pieds nus_ = It’s an ill thing to wait for dead men’s shoes; He pulls with a long rope that waits for another’s death.

[Also: _Qui s’attend à l’écuelle d’autrui risque fort de mal dîner._]

_Avoir la mort dans l’âme_ = To be grieved to death; To be overwhelmed with grief.

Morveux

*_Qui se sent morveux se mouche_ (pop.) = If the cap fits, wear it. (See _Galeux_.)

Mot

_Ils en sont venus aux gros mots_ = They came to high words.

*_Qui ne dit mot consent_ = Silence gives consent.

_Il a toujours le mot pour rire_ = He is ever ready with a joke; He is full of fun.

_Il a 40,000 francs de rente au bas mot_ = He has £1600 a year at the very least.

*_À bon entendeur demi-mot suffit_ (or, _salut_) = A word to the wise is enough; _Verbum sap._

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

_Ils se sont donné le mot_ = They have passed the word round; They have agreed before-hand what to say.

_Tranchons le mot_ = In plain English; Not to mince matters; To put it plainly.

_C’est mon dernier mot_ = That is the last concession I can make; I will not take less.

_Il sait le fin mot de tout cela_ = He understands the upshot of all this.

_Ne soufflez pas mot!_ = Do not breathe a word!

_En deux mots_ = To cut a long story short.

_Des mots longs d’une toise_ = Words as long as your arm. [RACINE, _Plaideurs_, i. 1.]

_Je ne mâche pas mes mots_ = I don’t mince matters; I call a spade a spade.

Mouche

_Les grosses mouches passent à travers la toile de la justice, mais les petites y sont prises_ = One man may steal a horse, while another dare not look over the hedge; Justice will whip a beggar, but bow to a lord; One does the scath, another has the harm; The crow gets pardoned, and the dove has the blame.

[“_Où la guêpe a passé, le moucheron demeure._” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, ii. 16.

“Quidquid delirant reges, plectuntur Achivi.” HOR., _Ep._, i. 2.

Italian: Un fa il peccato, l’altro la penitenza.]

*_Vous faites d’une mouche un éléphant_ = You make a mountain out of a molehill.

[“Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus.” HORACE, _Ars Poetica_.]

_Quelle mouche vous pique?_ = What irritates you? What whim have you got into your head?

_Il a pris la mouche_ = He is in a huff; He got offended.

*_On prend plus de mouches avec du miel qu’avec du vinaigre_ = More is done by kindness than by harshness.

_C’est une fine mouche_ = He is a sly dog, a deep one.

_C’est la mouche du coche_ = He is a regular busybody; The worst wheel makes the most noise. (See _Coche_ and _Bruit_.)

_Faire mouche_ = To hit the bull’s eye.

Moudre

_Il viendra moudre à notre moulin_ = He will be in want of us some day.

Moulin

_C’est un vrai moulin à paroles_ = She is a regular chatterbox; He is a regular windbag.

Moutarde

_Il m’a fait monter la moutarde au nez_ = He irritated me; He made me lose my temper.

_C’est de la moutarde après dîner_ = It comes too late to be of any use; It is a day after the fair.

[“Depugnato proelio venire.”--PLAUTUS, _Menaechmi_, v. 6, 30.

“Κατόπιν τῆς ἑορτῆς ἥκεις” = You have come after the feast.--PLATO, _Gorgias_.]

Moutardier

_Il se croit le premier moutardier du pape_ = He thinks no small beer of himself.

Mouton

*_Revenons à nos moutons_ = But to return to our subject.

[From an old farce of the fifteenth century, _Maistre Pierre Pathelin_, verse 1191, attributed without foundation to Pierre Blanchet. M. F. Génin in his edition (1854) gives 1460 as the date, and Antoine de la Sale as the author. It was adapted in 1706 by Brueys and Palaprat, under the title of _L’Avocat Patelin_. See also RÉGNIER, _Sat._, ii.]

Moyen

_Il n’y a pas moyen_ = It cannot be done.

_Il fait valoir ses moyens_ = 1. He makes the best of his talents. 2. He boasts of his talents.

_Cet enfant a peu de moyens_ = That child is not clever.

Mur

_Je l’ai mis au pied du mur_ = I drove him into a corner; I made him decide one way or the other.

Muraille

*_Muraille blanche, papier de fou_ = Fools write their names on walls.

[Late Latin: Stultorum calami, carbones mœnia chartae.]

Musique

_Il est réglé comme un papier de musique_ = He is as regular as clockwork.

N.

Nage

_Je suis tout en nage_ = I am in a thorough perspiration; I have not a dry thread on me.

Navette

_Faire la navette_ = To go to and fro between two places several times.

Nèfle

_Avoir quelque chose pour des nèfles_ (fam.) = To buy something for a mere song.

Nerf

_Vous me donnez sur les nerfs_ = You get on my nerves; You rile me (fam.).

Net

_Mettez cela au net_ = Make a fair copy of that.

_Il a les mains nettes_ (fig.) = He is honest; His hands are clean.

_Refuser net_ = To refuse point-blank.

Nez

_Il a un pied de nez_ (fam.) = He pulls a long face, looks foolish.

[Also: _Il fait un nez._]

_Il a fait un pied de nez_ (fam.) = He put his fingers to his nose; “He cut a snook.”

_Ce coup l’a fait saigner du nez_ = That blow made his nose bleed.

_Il a saigné du nez_ = (lit.) His nose bled; (fig.) His heart failed him.

_A vue de nez_ = By rule of thumb.

_Il veut toujours fourrer son nez partout_ (fam.) = He wants to have his finger in every pie. (See _Fourrer_.)

_On voulait lui tirer les vers du nez_ = They wished to pump him.

_Vous vous y casserez le nez_ = 1. You will fall on your face. 2. You will knock up against something. 3. You will fail in that.

_Porter le nez au vent_ = To stare about aimlessly.

_Il me regarda sous le nez_ = He stared me in the face.

_Il me l’a jeté au nez_ = He cast it in my teeth.

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

_Qui coupe son nez dégarnit son visage_ = It is an ill bird that fouls its own nest; He who cuts off his nose spites his own face.

[Also: _S’arracher le nez pour faire dépit à son visage._]

_Il me ferma la porte au nez_ = He shut the door in my face.

_Il lui en pend autant au nez_ = He may expect as much (something unpleasant); He will fare no better.

Nid

_On n’a plus trouvé que le nid_ = They found the birds flown.

Nitouche

_Elle fait la sainte Nitouche_ = She plays the innocent; She looks as if butter would not melt in her mouth; She looks very demure.

[_Sainte Nitouche_ is derived from _sainte n’y touche_, shortened from _une sainte qui n’y touche pas_. See _Toucher_.]

Noce

_Je n’ai jamais été à pareille noce_ (or, _fête_) = I never had such a time of it.

_Il a fait la noce toute la semaine_ = He has had a high old time of it all the week; He has been on the spree all the week.

[Literally, to enjoy oneself as if one were _a guest at a wedding_, where there is plenty of merriment, food, and drink.]

_Je ne suis pas à la noce_ = I am not enjoying myself at all.

Noël

*_Tant crie l’on Noël qu’il vient_ (Villon) = Long looked for comes at last; That is coming--like Christmas.

_Quand Noël est vert, les Pâques seront blanches_ = When the winter is mild, the spring will be wintry.

Noir

_Voir tout en noir_ = To look on the black side of things; To have the blues.

[Opposite to: _voir tout en rose_, or, _voir tout couleur de rose_.]

_Broyer du noir_ = To have the blues; To feel very sad.

Nom

_Nom d’un petit bonhomme!_ (fam.) = By Jingo!

_Voilà un nom à coucher dehors (avec un billet de logement dans la poche)_ = That’s a name too ugly for words; That’s an outlandish name if you like.

Nombre

_Tout fait nombre_ = Every little helps.

Normand

_C’est répondre en Normand_ = That is an evasive answer.

Nourrice

_Elle dit qu’elle a vingt ans._--_Et les mois de nourrice!_ (fam.) = She says she is twenty.--And the rest!

Nouvelle

_Goûtez-moi ce vin; vous m’en direz des nouvelles_ (fam.) = You just taste this wine, you don’t get wine like that every day; What do you think of that for wine, my boy?

Nue

_Tomber des nues_ = To be astounded.

Nuire

*_Ce qui nuit à l’un sert à l’autre_ = What is one man’s meat is another man’s poison.

Nuit

*_La nuit porte conseil_ = Time will show a plan; Sleep upon it; Seek advice of your pillow.

O.

Œil

_Se fourrer le doigt dans l’œil_ (pop.) = To deceive oneself blindly.

[Sometimes _jusqu’au coude_ is added.]

_Il a les yeux au beurre noir_ (pop.) = He has a couple of black eyes; He has his eyes in mourning.

[Also: _Il à les yeux pochés._]

_Je ne vois pas cela d’un bon œil_ = I do not look favourably upon that.

_Cela saute aux yeux_ = That is evident, obvious; It is as clear as noonday.

_Je l’ai regardé entre les deux yeux_ = I looked him straight in the face; I stared at him.

_Entrer à l’œil dans un théâtre_ (fam.) = To get into a theatre on the nod (_i.e._ gratis).

_Avoir le compas dans l’œil_ = To have a good eye for distances.

_Elle a des yeux à la perdition de son âme_ = Her eyes are so lovely that they will be her ruin.

_Vous ne voyez point votre chapeau? Mais il vous crève les yeux!_ = You do not see your hat? Why, it stares you in the face! (it’s just under your nose).

_La lumière me tire les yeux_ = The light hurts my eyes.

_Il ne le fera pas pour vos beaux yeux_ = He will not do it for you for nothing.

_Nous convînmes de cela entre quatre yeux_ = We agreed to that between ourselves.

_Je m’en bats l’œil_ (pop.) = I don’t care a straw for it.

_Il a les yeux battus_ = He has a tired look about his eyes.

_Il a les yeux cernés_ = He has dark circles round his eyes.

_Des yeux à fleur de tête_ = Goggle eyes. (See _Fleur_.)

_Ouvrez l’œil, et le bon!_ (fam.) = Look out!

_Cela lui a tapé dans l’œil_ (pop.) = That took his fancy; He was much struck by that.

Œuf

*_Donner un œuf pour avoir un bœuf_ = To give a sprat to catch a herring (_or_, mackerel).

[Also: _Supporter peu pour avoir tout_.]

*_Faire d’un œuf un bœuf_ = To make a mountain out of a molehill.

_Il tondrait sur un œuf_ = He would skin a flint. (See _Huile_ and _Cheveux_.)

Œuvre

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

_Mettez la main à l’œuvre_ = Put your shoulder to the wheel.

*_À l’œuvre on connaît l’artisan_ = A carpenter is known by his chips; The proof of the pudding is in the eating. [LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, i. 21, _Les frelons et la mouche à miel_.]

Oindre

*_Oignez vilain, il vous poindra: Poignez vilain, il vous oindra._

[An old saying used by the French nobles during the middle ages, and found in a collection of proverbs of the thirteenth century.--_Rab._, i, 21. The Duc de Bourbon, in speaking before the États-Généraux in 1484, said: “Je connais le caractère des vilains. S’ils ne sont opprimés, il faut qu’ils oppriment.”

Comp. “Tender-handed stroke a nettle, And it stings you for your pains; Grasp it like a man of mettle, And it soft as silk remains.” --AARON HILL, _Verses written on a window in Scotland_.]

Oiseau

_Il a battu les buissons, un autre a pris l’oiseau_ = He did the work and another had the profit.

[Donatus in his “Life of Virgil” quotes the famous line: “Sic vos non vobis nidificatis aves.” Hesiod says of drones: “ἀλλότριον κάματον σφετέρην ἑς γαστερ᾽ ἀμῶνται = Into their own bellies they scrape together the labour of others.” The Talmud says: “One says grace and another eats”; the New Testament: “One soweth, another reapeth.” Henry V. is reported to have said: “Shall I beat the bush and another take the bird?” when it was proposed to him to give up the Duke of Orleans to the Burgundians.]

*_À tout oiseau son nid est beau_ = Home is home, be it ever so homely. (See _Chez_.)

“_Aux petits des oiseaux il donne leur pâture_” = He that sends mouths sends meat. [RACINE, _Athalie_, ii. 7.]

_À vue d’oiseau_ = A bird’s-eye view.

_À vol d’oiseau_ = As the crow flies.

Oisiveté

*“_L’oisiveté est la mère de tous les vices_” = “For Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.”--WATTS, _Divine Songs_, xx. (See _Fille_.)

[COLLÉ, _La Partie de Chasse de Henri IV._, iii. 1. Also: _Négligence mène déchéance_ = Idle men tempt the devil.]

On

On _est un sot_ = “They-say-so” is half a liar.

[Note that there is no liaison after _On_ here.]

Ongle

_Il a de l’esprit jusqu’au bout des ongles_ = He is witty to the tips of his fingers; He is extremely witty.

_Il a bec et ongles_ = He will fight with beak and claw, tooth and nail.

Onguent

*_Dans les petites boîtes les bons onguents_ = Small parcels hold fine wares. (See _Aune_.)

Opiner

_Il opine du bonnet_ = He agrees with the previous speakers without saying a word.

[From the custom of judges who agreed with the decision of a brother judge, taking off their caps and saying nothing. It is also said of a subordinate who always agrees with his superior.]

Oreille

_Il se fera tirer l’oreille_ = He will require pressing.

_Il se retira l’oreille basse_ = He went away crestfallen.

_J’ai les oreilles rebattues de cela_ = I am tired of hearing that.

_Il dort sur les deux oreilles_ = (lit.) He sleeps soundly; (fig.) His mind is quite easy.

_Il n’écoute que d’une oreille_ = He pays very little attention to what is being said.

_Ne venez pas ainsi me corner aux oreilles_ = Do not come and din it into my ears in that way.

_Il fait la sourde oreille_ = He turns a deaf ear; He pretends not to hear.

_Je n’entends pas de cette oreille-là_ = I will not listen to that.

_Par dessus les oreilles_ = Over head and ears.

_Autant lui en pend à l’oreille_ = He may expect the same (something unpleasant). (Compare _Nez_.)

_Les oreilles ont dû vous corner (tinter)_ = Your ears must have burned.

_Je lui frotterai les oreilles_ = I will twist his tail for him.

Orfèvre

*“_Vous êtes orfèvre, Monsieur Josse!_” = That is a bit of special pleading; That is not disinterested advice; There’s nothing like leather!

[MOLIÈRE, _L’Amour Médecin_, i. 1. This quotation refers to Sganarelle’s daughter who suffers from an incurable lowness of spirits. All his neighbours give him advice as to how to cure her; among them, Monsieur Josse, a jeweller, suggests that a fine necklace of diamonds or rubies would undoubtedly cure her. The father, distracted though he be, is not so far gone as not to see through this remark, and he replies in the words that have since become proverbial.]

Orgueil

*_Il n’est orgueil que de sot enrichi_ = Set a beggar on horseback, he’ll ride to the devil.

Orme

*_Attendez-moi sous l’orme_ = You may wait for me till doomsday.

Ortie

_Rabelais jeta le froc aux orties_ = Rabelais was an unfrocked priest.

Ôter

_Ôte-toi de là que je m’y mette_ = You get out and let me get in.

[Origin unknown; probably le Vicomte de Ségur first used it. Comp. Sancho Panza, “Imitando al juego de los muchachos que dicen ‘Salta tu y dámela tu’ doy un salto del gobierno.”]

Oublier

_Oublions le passé_ = Let bygones be bygones.

Ours

_C’est un ours mal léché_ = He is an ill-licked cub; He is an ill-bred [_or_, ill-shapen] fellow. [LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, xi. 7.]

_C’est le pavé de l’ours_ = Save me from my friends.

[“Rien n’est si dangereux qu’un ignorant ami Mieux vaudrait un sage ennemi.” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, viii. 10.

An old gardener, feeling lonely, had adopted a bear as a companion. One day, when his master was asleep, he sees a fly on his face; he tries to drive it away, but it declines to move, so he takes up a huge paving-stone and kills the fly--and his master too.]

Ouvrier

*_Mauvais ouvrier n’a jamais bons outils_ = A bad workman always blames his tools.

Ouvrir

_Il traduit à livre ouvert_ = He translates at sight.

P.

Paille

_Tout y va, la paille et le blé_ = He spends all he has.

_Il mourra sur la paille_ = He will die in the gutter.

_Il est sur la paille_ = He is exceedingly poor.

_Tirons à la courte paille_ = Let us draw lots.

*_Cela enlève la paille_ = “That takes the cake.”

[The French is hardly as popular an expression as the English, which might be rendered in French by _décrocher la timbale_. Quitard derives _paille_ from _paîle_, a kind of rich cloth given as a prize in athletic contests. Littré imagines it originated with amber, which has the property of raising light objects, such as straw. Madame de Sévigné writes (13th Jan. 1672): “Racine a fait une comédie qui s’appelle Bajazet et qui enlève la paille.” The English expression is said to come from the custom of negroes, when giving a ball, to provide a cake to be given to the best-dressed couple. The competitors walk round and are judged by the other guests. Hence the term cake-walk.]

Pain

_Cet homme est bon comme le pain_ = That man is goodness itself.

_Il a mangé son pain blanc le premier_ = He had the best of his life first; His happiest days are over.

[In many parts of the Continent white bread is not the matter of course that it is in England; brown or black bread is the usual fare of the poorer classes.]

*_Tel grain, tel pain_ = What you sow, you must mow.

_On lui a fait passer le goût du pain_ (fam.) = They killed him.

_C’est pain bénit_ = It serves you (him, her, them) right.

_Il a du pain sur la planche_ = He has saved money; He has enough to live upon; He has put something by for a rainy day; There is plenty of work for him to do.

*_De tout s’avise à qui pain faut (manque)_ = Necessity is the mother of invention.

*_Pain tant qu’il dure, vin à mesure_ = Eat at pleasure, drink by measure.

*_Il ne vaut pas le pain qu’il mange_ = He is not worth his salt.

_Il sait son pain manger_ = He knows on which side his bread is buttered.

*_C’est un long jour qu’un jour sans pain_ = ’Tis a long lane that has no turning.

*_Pain dérobé réveille appétit_ = Stolen joys are sweet.

[“_Pain qu’on dérobe et qu’on mange en cachette, Vaut mieux que pain qu’on cuit et qu’on achète._” LA FONTAINE, _Les Troqueurs_.]

_Je ne mange pas de ce pain-là_ = I don’t go in for that sort of thing.

Pair

_Hors de pair_ = Beyond all comparison; Above the level of others.

_Traiter quelqu’un de pair à compagnon_ = To be hail-fellow-well-met with any one; To treat any one on an equal footing.

Paire

*_Les deux font la paire_ (fam.) = They are well matched; _Arcades ambo_.

Paître

*_Je l’ai envoyé paître_ (fam.) = I sent him about his business.

Paix

_Paix et peu_ = Anything for a quiet life.

Panier

*_Adieu paniers, vendanges sont faites_ = You come too late, it is all over.

[The chorus of an old glee sung by the grape-pickers when their labours were finished. Comp. RABELAIS, _Gargantua_, xxvii.]

_Vous me donnez le dessus du panier_ = You give me the best, the pick.

[_Le dessous du panier_ = the refuse.]

_C’est un panier percé_ = He is a spendthrift.

Panneau

_Donner dans le panneau_ = To fall into the trap.

Panse

_Il n’a pas fait une panse d’a aujourd’hui_ = He has not done a stroke all day.

[_Panse d’a_ = the round part of an _a_.]

Papier

_Il n’est pas dans mes petits papiers_ = He is not in my good books.

[“Oh! pourvu que je sois Dans les petits papiers du _Mercure François_.” ROSTAND, _Cyrano de Bergerac_, ii. 8.]

Paquet

_Je lui ai donné son paquet_ = I gave him the sack.

_Faire un paquet_ = To make a parcel.

_Faire son paquet_ = To pack up and go.

Par

_De par le roi_ = By the king’s command.

[“De par le roi, défense à Dieu De faire miracle en ce lieu.”

A cynical couplet that arose when Louis XV. prohibited pilgrimages to the tomb of François de Pâris, behind the Church of St. Médard in Paris, because of the Convulsionnaires.]

Paraître

_Sans qu’il y paraisse, c’est un homme fort instruit_ = Without making any show he is a very well-informed man.

_A ce qu’il me paraît_ = As far as I can judge, see.

_Le livre vient de paraître_ = The book is just out, just published.

_Il n’y paraît plus_ = There is no trace of it.

_Il n’y paraît pas_ = One would not have thought it.

Pareil

_J’ai le pareil_ = I have one like it.

_Je vous rendrai la pareille_ = 1. I will pay you out. 2. I will do the same for you.

_On n’a jamais vu chose pareille_ = One never heard of such a thing.

Paresseux

*_Ce sont les paresseux qui font le plus de chemin_ = Lazy people take the most pains.

_Parier Il y a cent_ (or, _gros_) _à parier qu’ils ne reviendront pas_ = The odds are that they will not come back.

Paris

_Il prend Paris pour Corbeil, le Pirée pour un homme_ = “He does not know a hawk from a handsaw.”

[_Hamlet_, ii. 2, where “handsaw” is a corruption of hernshaw = heron. This was an old proverb, corrupted before Shakespeare’s day.

“Pour grain ne prenant paille ou Paris pour Corbeil.”--RÉGNIER, _Sat._ xiv.]

_Le Tout-Paris de ce temps-là_ = The fashionable world of Paris of that day.

Parler

_Nous parlions de la pluie et du beau temps_ = We were not talking of anything important or confidential; We were talking of indifferent matters.

_Parler de bouche_ } = Lip worship does not _Au cœur ne touche_ } reach the heart.

_C’est à vous à parler_ = It is your turn to speak.

_C’est à vous de parler_ = It is your duty to speak.

_Qu’il vienne, il trouvera à qui parler_ = Let him come, he will find his match.

_Trop gratter cuit, trop parler nuit_ = Least said, soonest mended; Speech is silvern, silence is golden.

[Italian: Chi parla semina, chi tace raccoglie = Who speaks sows, who keeps silence reaps.

_Qui d’autruy parler voudra Regarde soi et il taira._]

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

_Il a son franc parler_ = He is free-spoken.

Parole

*_Vous avez la parole_ = It is your turn to speak; You are allowed to speak (_i.e._ you have caught the Speaker’s eye). See _Avoir_.

_Je lui coupai la parole_ = I interrupted him.

*_Un homme d’honneur n’a que sa parole_ = An honest man’s word is as good as his bond.

_Être de parole_ = To be as good as one’s word.

_Manquer de parole_ (or, _manquer à sa parole_) = To break one’s word.

_Tenir parole_ = To keep one’s word.

Part

_En bonne ou mauvaise part_ = In a good or bad sense.

_Nous le savons de bonne part_ = We know it on good authority.

Partager

_Il est bien partagé_ = The Fates have been kind to him.

## Parti

_Il a pris son parti_ = 1. He has made up his mind. 2. He has resigned himself to it.

_De parti pris_ = Deliberately.

_C’est un parti pris_ = His mind is made up; It is a foregone conclusion.

_C’est un parti pris chez lui de toujours contredire_ = He will always contradict.

_A parti pris point de conseil_ = Advice is useless when a man’s mind is made up.

_Il tire parti de tout_ = He makes a profit out of everything.

_Il sait tirer parti de la vie_ = He knows how to make the best of life.

_Il a épousé un bon parti_ = He made a good match.

_Il vous fera un mauvais parti_ = He will try and pick a quarrel with you so as to ill-use you, to do you harm.

## Partie

_Il m’a pris à partie_ = He took me to task; (legally) He summoned me.

[_Partie_ is literally a man who pleads against any one in a lawsuit. Compare:

“Va, je suis ta partie et non pas ton bourreau.” CORNEILLE, _Cid_, 839.]

_C’était une partie nulle_ = It was a drawn game.

Pas

_Marcher à pas de géant_ = To put on one’s seven-league boots.

_Se tirer d’un mauvais pas_ = To get out of an awkward fix (scrape).

*_Il n’y a que le premier pas qui coûte_ = In everything the beginning is the most difficult part; The first step downward makes the others easier.

[“_Il n’y a que le premier obstacle qui coûte à vaincre._”--BOSSUET, _Pensées chrétiennes_, 9.]

_Il prend le pas sur moi_ = He takes precedence of me.

_J’y vais de ce pas_ = I am going there directly.

_Je le mettrai au pas_ = I will put him on his good behaviour.

_Marquer le pas_ = (lit.) To mark time; (fig.) To wait for a post to which one has a right.

_Marchez au pas_ = Drive slowly; Walk in step.

Passe

_Il est en passe de devenir ministre_ = He is in a fair way (he stands a good chance) to become a Cabinet Minister.

Passer

_Il faut bien que j’en passe par là_ = I must submit to that; I must put up with it.

_Nous ne pouvons nous passer de cela_ = We cannot do without that.

*_Passons au déluge_ = We know all about that, let us come to the point; Don’t let us go over all that again, we will take it for granted.

[RACINE, _Plaideurs_, iii. 3; where L’Intimé, the lawyer, wishes to relate the history of the world from the creation, and Dandin, the judge, begs him to skip all until the flood.]

_Cette couleur passera_ = That colour will fade.

*_Passe-moi la casse (rhubarbe), je te passerai le séné_ = Claw me and I’ll claw thee; One hand washes the other, and both wash the face.

_Passez-moi ce mot-là_ = Excuse the expression.

_J’en passe ... et des meilleurs_ = Some of the best I pass over. [VICTOR HUGO, _Hernani_, iii. 6.]

_On ne passe pas_ = No thoroughfare.

[_Rue barrée_ = Road stopped.]

Patte

_Vous faites des pattes de mouche_ = You have a small, ill-formed handwriting.

_Il marche à quatre pattes_ = He walks on all-fours.

Pauvre

_Aux pauvres la besace_ = The back is made for the burden.

_L’homme pauvre est toujours en pays étranger_ = The poor are never welcomed; All bite the bitten dog.

Pauvreté

*_Pauvreté n’est pas vice_ = Poverty is no crime.

Pavé

_Les pavés le disent_ = It is in every one’s mouth.

_Il est sur le pavé_ = He is out of work.

_Prendre le haut du pavé_ = To take the wall.

Payer

_Payer de sa personne_ = To bravely expose oneself to danger; To risk one’s skin.

_Être payé pour savoir_ = To know a thing to one’s cost.

_Payer d’audace_ = To put on a bold face; To brazen a thing out.

_Payer les violons_ = To pay the piper.

_Je ne me paye pas de mauvaises raisons_ = I will only be satisfied with good reasons.

_Vous vous payez de mots_ = You are the dupe of words; You are taken in by empty words.

_Il me la payera_ = I will make him smart for it.

_Qui paye ses dettes s’enrichit_ = Debt is the worst kind of poverty.

_Payer son écot_ = To pay one’s share (scot).

_Il veut se payer ma tête_ = He wishes to have the laugh of me.

Pays

*_Pays ruiné vaut mieux que pays perdu_ = Half a loaf is better than no bread.

_Je lui ferai voir du pays_ = I will lead him a pretty dance.

Peau

*_Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l’ours avant de l’avoir tué_ = Do not count your chickens before they are hatched; First catch your hare.

[“_Il m’a dit qu’il ne faut jamais Vendre la peau de l’ours qu’on ne l’ait mis par terre._” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, v. 20.]

_Il crève dans sa peau_ (fam.) = (lit.) He is extremely fat; (fig.) He is bursting with pride, spite.

_Faire peau neuve_ = To turn over a new leaf.

Péché

*_Péché avoué est à demi pardonné_ = A fault confessed is half redressed.

_Elle est laide comme les sept péchés capitaux_ = She is as ugly as sin.

Pécher

_On est puni par où l’on a péché_ =

“The Gods are just, and of our pleasant vices Make instruments to scourge us.” [_King Lear_, v. 3.]

Peine

_Cela ne vaut pas la peine_ = It is not worth the trouble; It is not worth while.

_Mourir à la peine_ = 1. To die in harness. 2. To work oneself to death.

Peinture

_Je ne peux pas le voir même en peinture_ = I hate the very sight of that man.

Pelé

_Il y avait quatre pelés et un tondu_ = There were only a few people and those of no importance; Only the tag, rag, and bobtail were there.

Pelle

*_La pelle se moque du fourgon_ = It is the pot calling the kettle black.

[Another English variant is: “The kiln calls the oven: Burnt house.” The Italians say: “La padella dice al pajuolo, ‘Fatti ni la che tu me tigni’” = The pan says to the pot, “Keep off or you’ll smutch me.” The Germans: “Ein Esel schimpft den andern Langohr” = One ass nicknames another Longears.]

_Remuer l’argent à la pelle_ = To have plenty of money.

Pelote

_Il a fait sa pelote_ = He has feathered his nest.

Pendant

_Cet homme n’a pas son pendant_ (or, _pareil_) = That man has not his match.

Pendre

_Il a dit pis que pendre de vous_ = He said everything that was bad of you; According to him, hanging is too good for you.

Penser

_À ce que je pense_ = To my mind.

_Sans penser à mal_ = Without meaning any mischief.

_Rien que d’y penser j’en ai le frisson_ = The bare thought of it makes me shudder.

_Cela donne furieusement à penser_ = That is very suggestive.

_Sans arrière-pensée_ = Without reserve; With no after-thought.

Perdre

*_Un de perdu, deux de retrouvés_ = When one door shuts, another opens.

_Je m’y perds_ = I am getting bewildered; I cannot make head or tail of it.

_Il perd la carte_ = He is getting confused.

_C’est du bien perdu_ = It is casting pearls before swine.

*_Qui perd pèche_ = He who loses sins; Nothing succeeds like success.

Perdrix

*_Toujours des perdrix_ = The best things pall in time.

Perle

_Nous ne sommes pas ici pour enfiler des perles_ = We are not here to trifle our time away.

Pérou

_Ce n’est pas le Pérou_ (fam.) = It’s no great catch.

Personne

_C’est la bonté en personne_ = He (_or_, She) is kindness itself.

Perte

_À perte de vue_ = As far as the eye can reach.

_Je suis en perte_ = I am out of pocket.

_J’ai fait cela en pure perte_ = What I have done is completely useless; All I have done is to no purpose.

Pesant

_Il vaut son pesant d’or_ = He is worth his weight in gold.

Petit

_Elles sont aux petits soins pour leur vieille mère_ = They are all attention to their old mother.

*_Les petits ruisseaux font les grandes rivières_ = Many a little makes a mickle.

*_Petit à petit l’oiseau fait son nid_ = Little strokes fell great oaks. (See _Maille_ and _Ruisseau_.)

[Also: _Grain à grain amasse la fourmi son pain. Peu à peu la vieille file sa quenouille._

Latin: Adde parvum parvo tandem fit magnus acervus.

Italian: A passo a passo se va lontana.

Little and often fills the purse.]

_En petit_ = On a small scale.

*_Petit mercier, petit panier_ = A small pack becomes a small pedlar.

[“Little boats should keep the shore, Larger ships may venture more.”

Latin: Pauper agat caute.]

*_Petite cervelle, prompte colère_ = A little pot is soon hot.

Pétrin

_Je suis dans le pétrin_ (fam.) = I am in a mess, fix.

_Les finances sont en ce moment dans un pétrin impossible_ = The finances are in horrible disorder just now.

Peu

_Si peu que rien_ = Next to nothing.

_Imaginez un peu!_ = Just fancy!

_Pour peu que cela vous ennuie_ = However little it annoys you.

_Tant soit peu meilleur_ = Be it ever so little better; A shade better.

_À peu de chose près_ = Not far off.

Peur

_Elle était mise à faire peur_ = She looked a fright.

_Il a eu plus de peur que de mal_ = He was more frightened than hurt.

Phrase

_Faire des phrases_ = To speak affectedly.

Pie

*_Il a trouvé la pie au nid_ = He has found a mare’s nest.

_Elle jase comme une pie borgne_ = She chatters like a magpie.

Pièce

_J’ai fait cela de toutes pièces_ = I have done that entirely (_i.e._ every part of it).

_Je lui ai donné la pièce_ = I gave him a trifle, tip.

_C’est la pièce de résistance_ = It is the principal dish (of a meal).

Pied

_Il a bon pied, bon œil_ = He is hale and hearty.

_Sur le pied où en sont les choses_ = Considering how matters stand.

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

_Partir du bon pied_ = To put one’s best foot foremost.

_Je ferai des pieds et des mains pour vous être utile_ = I will do my utmost (strain every nerve) to serve you.

_Armé de pied en cap_ = Armed from head to foot, cap-à-pie.

_Le pied m’a manqué_ = My foot slipped.

_Mettre (quelqu’un) à pied_ = (fam.) To dismiss (a functionary); To deprive a cabman of his licence.

_Il a trouvé chaussure à son pied_ = He has found just what he wanted; He has found his match.

_Lâcher pied_ = 1. To lose ground. 2. To scamper away.

_Lever le pied_ = To decamp (of a dishonest banker, etc.).

_Vous m’avez tiré une épine du pied_ = (fig.) You have got me out of a difficulty. (See _Épine_.)

_J’ai fait mon travail d’arraché pied_ = I did my work straight off, without stopping.

_De plain pied_ = On the same level (of rooms on the same floor, or on a level with the ground).

_Il a le pied marin_ = He has got his sea-legs; He is a good sailor.

_Sauter à pieds joints sur quelqu’un_ = (fig.) To ride rough-shod over any one.

_Il ne se mouche pas du pied_ (pop.) = 1. He is a man of importance; He gives himself airs. 2. He is no fool.

[A favourite trick of a tumbler in olden times was to take one of his feet in his hands and pass it quickly under his nose. Hence the expression would be equivalent to: he is no tumbler or common fellow. “N’est pas un homme, non, qui se mouche du pied.” MOLIÈRE, _Tartufe_, iv. 5.]

_Aller du pied_ (or, _Courir_) _comme un chat maigre_ = To be a good walker.

_Il sèche sur pied_ = He is pining away.

_La mort l’a pris au pied levé_ = Death took him without a moment’s notice.

[Literally, just at the moment he was starting to go out.]

Pierre

*_Faire d’une pierre deux coups_ = To kill two birds with one stone.

*_Pierre qui roule n’amasse pas mousse_ = A rolling stone gathers no moss.

[The Greek form was: λίθος κυλινδόμενος τὸ φῦκος οὐ ποιεῖ.]

_Cela ferait rire un tas de pierres_ = That would make a cat laugh.

Piété

_Sa montre est au mont de piété_ = His watch is at the pawnbroker’s. (See _Accrocher_.)

Pignon

_Avoir pignon sur rue_ = To have a house of one’s own.

Pile

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

_Il n’a ni croix ni pile_ = He has not a rap.

[“Sans croix ne pile.”--LA FONTAINE, _Contes_, ii. “Whacum had neither cross nor pile.”--BUTLER, _Hudibras_, ii. 3. _Pile_ is literally the reverse of a coin.]

Pilier

_C’est un pilier d’estaminet_ (or, _de café_) = He is a public-house lounger, a pub-loafer.

Pilule

_Dorer la pilule_ = To gild the pill.

Pipe

_Casser sa pipe_ (pop.) = To kick the bucket; To hop the twig; To die.

Piquer

_Piquer la curiosité de quelqu’un_ = To rouse some one’s curiosity.

_Il se pique d’un rien_ = He takes offence at the slightest thing.

_Il s’est piqué d’honneur_ = He made it a point of honour; He was put upon his mettle.

_Piquer des deux_ = (lit.) To spur a horse with both heels; To gallop off at full speed; (fig.) To run very fast.

_Piquer une tête_ (fam.) = To take a header.

_Voilà un discours qui n’est pas piqué des vers_ = That’s a fine speech if you like [lit. not worm-eaten.]

_Se piquer au jeu_ = (lit.) To continue obstinately to play although losing; (fig.) To go on in an enterprise in spite of all obstacles.

Place

*_Qui va à la chasse perd sa place_ = If you leave your place, you lose it.

Plaider

“_Accordez-vous si votre affaire est bonne, Si votre cause est mauvaise, plaidez._” [J. B. ROUSSEAU, _Épigrammes_, ii. 19] = If you’ve a good case, try and compromise; If you’ve a bad one, take it into court.

Plaie

_Il ne demande que plaie et bosse_ = He seeks quarrels only to draw profit from them.

_Il ne cherche que plaie et bosse_ = He is always hankering after a black eye.

Plaisanterie

_Une bonne plaisanterie mérite les honneurs du bis_ = A good tale is none the worse for being told twice.

Plan

_Reléguer (mettre) au second plan_ = To put into the background.

Planche

_Faire la planche_ = 1. To show others the way; 2. To float on one’s back.

_C’est sa planche de salut_ = It is his last hope, his sheet-anchor.

Plancher

_Le plancher des vaches_ (fam.) = Dry land; _Terra firma_.

_Débarrasse-moi le plancher_ (fam.) = Get out of my way.

Planter

_Vous m’avez planté là_ = You left me without any warning; You left me in the lurch.

Plat

_Il nous a servi un plat de son métier_ (or, _de sa façon_) = He played us one of his tricks.

_On mit les petits plats dans les grands pour le bien recevoir_ (fam.) = They spared neither trouble nor money to receive him well; They received him with much fuss.

_Il a mis les pieds dans le plat_ (fam.) = He put his foot in it.

Plâtre

_Ce mari bat sa femme comme plâtre_ = That husband beats his wife like a dog.

_Essuyer les plâtres_ = To live in a newly-built house (and therefore damp). (See _Essuyer_.)

Plein

_Battre son plein_ = To be in full swing.

_Plein comme un œuf_ (fam.) = Chock-full.

_En pleine rue_ = In the open street.

_En pleine mer_ = On the high seas.

Pleurer

_La niaise! pleurer à chaudes larmes pour une vétille_ = The silly girl! to cry her eyes out for a trifle.

Pleuvoir

_Pleuvoir des hallebardes_ = To rain cats, dogs, and pitchforks.

Pli

_Cela ne fera pas un pli_ = There will not be the slightest difficulty.

_Si vous n’y prenez (pas) garde, il prendra un mauvais pli_ = If you are not careful he will get into bad habits.

Pluie

*_Après la pluie le beau temps_ = Every cloud has a silver lining.

_Nous parlions de la pluie et du beau temps_ = We were talking of indifferent matters.

_Il fait la pluie et le beau temps dans cette maison_ = His will is law in that house; He is the boss of that show (fam.).

Plus

*_Plus on a, plus on veut avoir_ = Much would have more.

Poche

_Il connaît Paris comme sa poche_ = He knows Paris perfectly; He knows all the ins and outs of Paris; His knowledge of Paris is extensive and peculiar.

Poil

_Un brave à trois poils_ = The bravest of the brave; A hero of the first water.

[This expression is derived from three-piled velvet. See MOLIÈRE, _Les Précieuses Ridicules_, 12.]

_Monter à poil_ = To ride barebacked.

Point

*_Un point à temps en épargne cent_ = A stitch in time saves nine.

[Spanish: Quien no adoba gotera adoba casa entera = Who repairs not his gutter repairs his whole house.]

_Cela vient à point_ = That comes opportunely.

_La viande est cuite à point_ = The meat is done to a turn.

_Vous venez à point nommé_ = You come in the nick of time, at the necessary moment, just when you are wanted.

_Mettez les points sur les i_ = Be precise, clear (in speaking or writing); Cross your t’s and dot your i’s.

_Il vous rendrait des points_ = He is more than a match for you; He could give you points.

_Il vous rendra des points_ = He will give you odds (at a game).

_Il y a un point noir à l’horizon_ = There are breakers ahead.

Poire

*_Coupons la poire en deux_ = Let us split the difference.

_Elle faisait trop sa poire_ (pop.) = She needed pressing; She played the prude (_or_, disdainful).

[“Il était trop homme pour faire sa poire.”]

_Nous en causerons entre la poire et le fromage_ = We will talk it over at dessert.

_Garder une poire pour la soif_ = To lay up something for a rainy day.

Poisson

_On lui a fait un poisson d’avril_ = They made him an April fool.

_Je suis comme un poisson sur la paille_ = I am like a fish out of water.

Polichinelle

_C’est le secret de Polichinelle_ = It is an open secret; Every one knows it.

_Il a avalé la pratique de Polichinelle_ = He is very hoarse.

[_La pratique de Polichinelle_ is the squeaker that a Punch-and-Judy man puts in his mouth during a performance.]

Politesse

*_Force politesse, trop de finesse_ = Full of courtesy, full of craft.

Pont

_Il se porte comme le Pont Neuf_ = He is in splendid health.

_C’est vieux comme le Pont Neuf_ = Queen Anne is dead; It is as old as the hills.

[The Pont Neuf was finished in 1604 during the reign of Henry IV., and is now the oldest bridge in Paris. The statue of Henry IV. in the middle of the bridge was erected originally in 1635, but the present one dates only from 1818.

Another expression is:

_Henri Quatre est sur le Pont Neuf_ = That’s stale news.]

Pontoise

_Il a l’air de revenir de Pontoise_ = He looks down in the mouth; He answers in a silly fashion.

[The origin of this expression is said to be that in 1720 and in 1753 the Parlement was exiled to Pontoise, about twenty miles north of Paris, for its rebellion to the King. Perhaps from the fact that when they returned they were besieged with questions, to which they gave confused answers, the saying arose and was applied to anyone that had a simple, idiotic appearance.]

Porte

_Ils ont mis la clef sous la porte_ = They absconded.

_Il faut qu’une porte soit ouverte ou fermée_ = You must decide one way or the other.

[The title of one of Alfred de Musset’s Proverbes.]

_On l’a mis à la porte_ = They turned him out.

_Il a été mis à la porte par les oreilles et les deux épaules_ = He was turned out ignominiously, neck and crop.

_On a condamné la porte_ = The door is nailed up, blocked up.

Portée

_À sa portée_ (or, _à portée de sa main_) = Within his reach.

_À (la) portée de la voix_ = Within call.

_À (une) portée de fusil_ = Within gunshot.

Porter

_C’est elle qui porte la culotte_ = She is mistress in this house (not her husband); The grey mare is the better horse.

_On le porte aux nues_ = They praise him to the skies.

_Ses plaisanteries portent coup_ = His jokes hit the mark.

Poseur

_C’est un poseur_ = He is a prig (lit. attitudiniser).

[There are several varieties of prigs, _e.g._--

_un savantasse_ = a learned prig. _un collet monté_ = a stiff-and-starched prig. _un cafard_ = a Pecksniff. _un fat_ = a conceited ass. _un freluquet_ = a whipper-snapper. See _Journal of Education_, March 1896.]

Possession

*_En fait de meubles possession vaut titre_ = Possession is nine points of the law.

Possible

_Pas possible!_ = You don’t say so! “Well, I never!”

Pot

_Il découvrit bientôt le pot aux roses_ = He soon found out the secret.

*_Un pot fêlé dure longtemps_ = A creaking door hangs long: Ailing folk live longest.

*_Il n’y a si méchant pot qui ne trouve son couvercle_ = Every Jack must have his Jill.

[Also: _À un boiteux, femme qui cloche_.]

_Il a reçu un pot-de-vin_ = He received a bribe, an illicit commission.

[A _pot-de-vin_ is a gratuity given to B by A because B obtained for A an order from C. It implies the idea of a bribe, for if everything had been fair A would not have obtained his order from C, either because his terms were too high or his wares not good enough.]

_Payer les pots cassés_ = To stand the racket; To pay the damage; To face the music.

_Tourner autour du pot_ = To beat about the bush.

_C’est le pot de terre contre le pot de fer_ = It is a most unequal combat.

Potasser

_Je vais potasser (piocher) un brin_ (students’ slang) = I’m going to swot (mug up) a bit.

Potin

_Faire du potin (chambard, boucan)_ (pop.) = To kick up a row, a shindy.

Pouce

_Manger sur le pouce_ = To take a snack.

_Mettre les pouces_ = To give in, to knuckle under.

_Lire du pouce_ (or, _doigt_) = To skip in reading (_i.e._ to do more work with the thumb than the brain).

Poudre

*_Il n’a pas inventé la poudre_ = He will never set the Thames on fire.

Poule

_C’est une poule mouillée_ = He is a milk-sop.

Pourpoint

_Mettre un homme en pourpoint_ = To pull a man’s cloak off; To ruin a man.

_Se mettre en pourpoint_ = To be ready to fight; To roll up one’s sleeves.

_Tirer un coup_ (_de pistolet_, etc.) _à brûle-pourpoint_ = To fire point-blank.

_Un argument à brûle-pourpoint_ = A convincing argument.

_Donner à quelqu’un un pourpoint de pierre_ = To give any one a stone doublet; To imprison any one.

Pouvoir

_Je n’y puis rien_ = I cannot help it; I can do nothing in the matter.

_Si faire se peut_ = If possible.

_Je n’en puis plus_ = I am done up, exhausted.

_Je n’en puis mais_ = I cannot help it; It is no fault of mine. (See _Mais_.)

_Cela se peut_ = That may be.

_Cela ne se peut pas_ = It cannot possibly be; It cannot be done.

_On fait comme on peut_ = We must do the best we can; We have done the best we could.

_Il est toujours on ne peut plus aimable_ = He is always as nice as can be.

Prêcher

_Il prêche dans le désert_ = (lit.) He preaches to empty benches; (fig.) All his talking will not convince any one.

_Chacun prêche pour son saint_ = Every one has an eye to his own interest.

Premier

_Nous sommes au premier_ = We are on the first floor.

_Nous sommes en première_ = We are in a first-class railway carriage.

_Le premier venu_ = (fig.) No matter who (_or_, whom); The man in the street.

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

[“Whoso first cometh to the mill, first grint.”--CHAUCER.]

Prendre

_Il prend sur son sommeil pour étudier_ = He works far into the night.

_C’est autant de pris sur l’ennemi_ = So much saved out of the fire; So much to the good.

_Bien lui en prit d’avoir fermé sa porte_ = It was lucky for him that he shut his door.

_Il prend le chemin de l’hôpital_ = He is on the highway to ruin.

_Je m’en prends à vous_ = I lay the blame at your door.

_Je vous y prends_ = I catch you at it.

_Ça ne prend pas_ (fam.) = “That’s no go.”

_Je sors d’en prendre_ (fam.) = I had rather be excused; You will not catch me again so soon.

_Qu’est-ce qui vous prend?_ = What is the matter with you?

[This is said to persons doing something suddenly without any apparent reason, or suddenly becoming bad-tempered, etc., not to invalids.]

_Je vais vous montrer comment il faut s’y prendre_ = I am going to show you how to set about it.

*_Ce qui est bon à prendre est bon à garder_ = What is worth taking is worth keeping; “Findings, keepings.”

_Prenez-vous-en à vous-même_ = You have yourself to thank for it.

_À tout prendre_ = On the whole; Everything considered.

Près

_À cela près il est bon enfant_ = Except for that he is a good fellow.

Presse

_Il n’y a pas presse_ = There is no hurry!

*_Plus on se presse, moins on arrive_ = The more haste, the less speed.

_Fendre la presse_ = To make one’s way through the crowd.

Pretentaine

_Courir la pretentaine_ = To gad about.

Prêter

_Il prête de l’argent à la petite semaine_ = He lends money for a short time at a high rate of interest.

_Un prêté pour un rendu_ = A Roland for an Oliver.

_Prêter le flanc à ..._ = To lay oneself open to...

_Prêter serment_ = To take the oath.

_Ce drap prête_ = This stuff gives, stretches.

Primer

_Elle prime par sa laideur_ = She takes the cake for ugliness.

Princesse

_Aux frais de la Princesse_ = At another’s expense (chiefly of the State Government).

Prise

_Ils étaient aux prises_ = They had closed; They were at close quarters.

_Je les ai mis aux prises_ = I have set them one against the other.

_Je leur ai donné prise sur moi_ = I gave them a handle on me.

_Lâcher prise_ = To let go one’s hold.

Procès

_Sans autre forme de procès_ = Without any more ado.

Promener

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

_Va te promener!_ (fam.) = Go to Jericho! Get along with you!

[Compare: “Βάλλ᾽ εἰς μακαρίαν” = Go to Glory.--PLATO, _Hipp. Major_, 293A--a euphemism for Βάλλ᾽ εἰς ἅδον.]

Promettre

*_Chose promise, chose due_ = Promises should be kept.

_Promettre et tenir sont deux_ = It is one thing to promise, another to perform.

Propos

_Il est venu fort à propos_ = He came very opportunely.

_À propos, viendrez-vous ce soir?_ = By the way, shall you come this evening?

_L’à-propos fait le mérite_ = Seasonableness gives everything its price.

_À propos de bottes_ = With reference to nothing in particular; With no reference to the subject in hand.

_Il le dit à tout propos_ = He says it on every occasion, at every turn.

_Il l’a fait de propos délibéré_ = He did it of set purpose; He had made up his mind to do it.

_Il l’a fait fort mal à propos_ = He did it very unseasonably, just at the wrong time.

Propre

_C’est du propre_ (ironic.) = A fine thing indeed.

_Il n’a rien en propre_ = He has nothing of his own.

_Un propre-à-rien_ = A good-for-naught.

_Propre à tout et bon à rien_ = Jack of all trades and master of none.

_Propre comme un sou neuf_ = As clean as a whistle; As neat as a new pin.

Prune

_Je ne le ferai pas pour des prunes_ (fam.) = I shall not do it for nothing.

[Also: _Je ne le ferai pas pour le roi de Prusse._ This latter saying is said to have originated with Voltaire, who, after having been exceedingly intimate with Frederick the Great, King of Prussia, finally quarrelled with him. Both this King and his father, Frederick William I., were known to be exacting and miserly.]

Puce

_Je lui ai mis la puce à l’oreille_ = I made him feel uneasy (by rousing his suspicions, etc.); I sent him away with a flea in his ear.

Puits

_Cet homme est un puits de science_ = He is a man of deep learning.

Q.

Quand

_Je le ferai quand même_ = I shall do it just the same; I shall do it whatever it may cost.

Quant

_Se tenir sur son quant-à-soi_ = To stand on one’s dignity.

Quart

_Le quart d’heure de Rabelais_ = The moment of payment. (See _Heure_.)

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

Quatorze

_Avoir quinte et quatorze_ = To have the game in one’s own hand.

[This phrase refers to terms used in the game of piquet. _Quinte_ is to have five cards of the same colour, which counts fifteen. _Quatorze_ is to have four cards of the same value (_i.e._ four knaves, aces, etc.), and counts fourteen.]

Quatre

_Il se mettrait en quatre pour un ami_ = He would go through fire and water for a friend.

_Faire le diable à quatre_ = To kick up a terrible noise; To exert oneself to the utmost.

[This expression originated in the time of the miracle plays, when four performers represented _la grande diablerie_, and less than four _la petite diablerie_.]

_Entre quatre-z-yeux_ (fam.) = Between ourselves.

_On le tenait à quatre_ = It needed four men to hold him down.

_Il se tenait à quatre pour ne pas lui dire des injures_ = It was as much as he could do not to abuse him.

_Travailler comme quatre_ = To work like a nigger.

Que

*_Ce que c’est que la vie!_ = What a strange thing life is! What poor mortals we are! (See _Ce_.)

_Ses louanges ne laissent pas que de me faire plaisir_ = I cannot help feeling pleased at his kind words.

Quelconque

_La pièce n’est que quelconque_ = The piece (_i.e._ the play) is quite an ordinary one.

Quenouille

_C’est une famille où l’esprit est tombé en quenouille_ = In that family only the women are clever; In that family the brains are on the distaff side.

Querelle

_N’épousez pas sa querelle_ = Do not take up his quarrel.

_Ils veulent vider leur querelle_ = They want to fight it out.

Quérir

_Il serait bon à aller quérir la mort_ = He is very slow.

Question

_Mettre en question_ = To call in question; To doubt.

_Mettre à la question_ = To put to the torture.

_Qu’il n’en soit plus question_ = Do not bother me about it any more; Let bygones be bygones. (See _Oublier_.)

Queue

_J’ai fait queue au théâtre pendant une heure_ = I waited outside the theatre for an hour (before I could get in).

_On fait queue au théâtre_ = There is a crowd at the door of the theatre (waiting for admittance).

_À la queue gît le venin_ = The sting is in the tail.

_Aller à la queue leu-leu_ = To go in Indian file.

[_Leu_ was the old French form of _loup_, so the phrase means to walk as wolves do, one after the other.]

_Tenir la queue de la poêle_ = To be the leading spirit in an affair.

Qui

_Pour qui connaît_ = To any one who knows.

_Ils s’échappèrent qui par la porte, qui par les fenêtres_ = Some escaped through the door, others through the windows.

*_Qui s’excuse s’accuse_ = A guilty conscience needs no accuser.

_C’est à qui le fera_ = They all wish to do it; They vie with one another to do it. (See _Mieux_.)

Quia

_Être réduit à quia_ = To be reduced to “because....”; To be nonplussed.

Quitte

_Me voilà quitte envers lui_ = I owe him nothing now.

_Vous en êtes quitte à bon marché_ = You come off cheap.

_J’en ai été quitte pour la peur_ = I escaped with a good fright.

_J’irai, quitte à être grondé_ = I shall go, even if I am scolded; I shall go, and chance the scolding.

Quoi

_J’ai de quoi payer_ = I have enough to pay.

_Il n’y a pas là de quoi pleurer_ = It is not worth crying about.

_Il n’y a pas de quoi rire_ = It is no laughing matter.

_Il n’y a pas de quoi_ (fam.) = Pray don’t mention it; There is no necessity to apologise. (See _Avoir_.)

_De quoi vous mêlez-vous?_ = What business is that of yours?

_Un je ne sais quoi_ = A “something” (I know not what).

[_Elle avait je ne sais quoi de charmant_ = She had a vague, indescribable charm.]

_C’est un filou, quoi!_ (pop.) = In a word, he’s a scamp.

R.

Rabais

_Vente au rabais_ = Sale at reduced prices; “Selling off.”

Rabattre

_Rabattre le caquet à quelqu’un_ (pop.) = To take a person down a peg; To stop his jaw; To cut his cackle.

Radis

_Il n’a pas un radis_ (fam.) = He has not a brass farthing. (See _Liard_.)

Raillerie

_Cela passe la raillerie_ = That is beyond a joke. (See _Entendre_.)

Raison

_Il n’entend pas raison là-dessus_ = He will not listen to reason on that point.

_Se faire raison à soi-même_ = To take the law into one’s own hands.

_Comme de raison_ = Rightly enough; As might be expected.

_Plus que de raison_ = More than is reasonable.

_Raison de plus_ = All the more reason.

_Avoir des raisons avec quelqu’un_ = To have words with any one; To quarrel with any one.

_Il faut se faire une raison_ = We must be guided by reason; We must look at things from a reasonable point of view.

[_E.g._ not go on worrying after a great loss.]

_Donner raison à quelqu’un_ = To say any one is right; To give satisfaction to any one (either legally or by a duel).

Rancart

_On l’a mis au rancart_ = He has been put on the shelf.

[Also: _Il est sous la remise._]

Rang

*_Tel qui brille au second rang s’éclipse au premier_ = A good subordinate often makes a bad leader.

Ranger

_Il s’est rangé_ = He has settled down (after sowing his wild oats).

Rare

_Vous devenez bien rare_ = You are quite a stranger.

Raseur

_C’est un raseur_ (fam.) = He is a bore.

[_Une bassinoire_ = a passive bore.]

Rat

_Il est gueux comme un rat d’église_ = He is as poor as a church mouse.

Rate

_Il ne se foule pas la rate_ (pop.) = He does not overwork himself; He takes things easily.

[Also: _Il ne se foule pas le poignet._]

_Cela lui désopilera la rate_ = That will cheer him up.

Râtelier

_Il mange à plus d’un râtelier_ = He has more than one string to his bow; He gains money from different sources.

Rattraper

*_Bien fin qui me rattrapera_ = Once bit, twice shy; They won’t catch me doing that again.

Rebours

_Il prend les choses à rebours_ = He misconstrues everything.

Rebrousse

_À rebrousse poil_ = Against the grain; (To rub) the wrong way.

Reconnaître

_Je vous reconnais bien là_ = That is just like you.

_Je ne m’y reconnais plus_ = I don’t know where I am, what I am about; I am quite at sea.

Reculer

_Il a reculé pour mieux sauter_ = 1. He waited for something better. 2. (ironic.) He avoided a small evil to fall into a greater.

[Compare: _Mieux reculer que mal assaillir._]

_Marcher à reculons_ = To walk backwards.

Redire

_Il trouve toujours à redire_ = He is always finding fault.

_Il n’y a rien à redire à cela_ = There is no fault to be found with that; That is quite all right.

Réflexion

_Réflexion faite_ = After due reflection; On second thoughts.

Refrain

_C’est le refrain de la ballade_ = It is the old story over again.

[“C’est toujours le refrain qu’ils font à leur ballade.”--RÉGNIER, _Sat._ i.]

Refus

_Cela n’est pas de refus_ (fam.) = That is very acceptable; I won’t say no to that.

Refuser

*_Qui refuse muse_ =

“He who will not when he may, When he will he shall have nay.”

Regarder

_N’y regardez pas de si près_ = Do not be so particular.

_Cela ne me regarde pas_ = That is not my business; That does not concern me.

_J’y regarderai à deux fois_ = I shall think twice before doing it.

Régler

_Il est réglé comme un papier de musique_ = He is as regular as clockwork.

Rein

_Nous poursuivîmes l’ennemi l’épée dans les reins_ = We followed the enemy close at his heels.

_Il s’est donné un tour de reins_ = He sprained his back.

_Il a les reins solides_ = (lit.) He is strong; (fig.) He has a long purse.

Réjouir

_C’est un gros réjoui_ = He is a big jolly fellow.

Remède

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

[“Factum est illud: fieri infectum non potest.”--PLAUTUS.]

Remontrer

_Gros Jean qui en remontre à son curé_ = Hodge tries to teach the Parson how to preach; He teaches his grandmother to suck eggs.

Remporter

_Il a remporté la victoire_ = He carried the day.

Renard

*_Renard qui dort la matinée N’a pas la gueule emplumée_ =

’Tis the early bird that catches the worm.

Renchérir

_Il renchérit sur tout ce qu’il entend dire_ = He caps every story he hears told.

Rencontrer

_Les beaux esprits se rencontrent_ = Great wits jump together.

[When two persons happen to say the same thing at the same time.]

Renfort

_Pour renfort de potage_ = Into the bargain; In addition. [MOLIÈRE, _Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme_, iii. 3.]

Rengaine

_C’est toujours la même rengaine_ (fam.) = It is always the same old story.

Renommée

*_Bonne renommée vaut mieux que ceinture dorée_ = A good name is better than riches. (See _Ceinture_.)

Répandre

_C’est un homme très répandu_ = He is a man who goes into society a great deal.

Repentir

*_Le repentir vient ordinairement trop tard_ = Do a thing in haste and repent at leisure.

Répondre

_Je vous en réponds!_ = I will be bound it is; I should think so, indeed! You take my word for it.

Reprise

_J’ai appelé mon domestique à plusieurs reprises_ = I called my servant several times.

Reprocher

_Il me reproche les morceaux_ = He grudges me the very food I eat.

Résoudre

_Je ne puis m’y résoudre_ = I cannot make up my mind to do it.

Ressort

_Ce n’est pas de mon ressort_ = That is not within my province, “not in my line.”

_Il a fait jouer tous les ressorts_ = He used all the means in his power.

_Ce tribunal juge en dernier ressort_ = This court tries without appeal; There is no appeal from the findings of this court.

Reste

_Je ne veux pas être en reste avec vous_ = I do not want to do less for you than you have done for me.

_J’en ai de reste_ = I have more than enough.

_Il n’a pas demandé son reste!_ = He soon took himself off, I can tell you! He soon shut up, I can tell you!

Retour

_Il est perdu sans retour_ = He is past all hope.

_Il demeure à l’étranger sans esprit de retour_ = He is living abroad without thinking of returning.

_Il me paie de retour_ = He loves (_or_, hates) me as much as I love (_or_ hate) him.

[_E.g._ “Vous dites que vous aimez votre mère, mais elle vous paie bien de retour.”]

Retourner

_Je sais de quoi il retourne_ = I know how matters stand.

Retraite

_Battre la retraite_ = To beat tattoo (_or_, the retreat.)

_Battre en retraite_ = To retreat.

Retrouver

_Je le retrouverai bien_ = He will not escape me.

Revendre

_Avoir d’une chose à revendre_ = To have more than enough of a thing.

Revenir

*_Revenons à nos moutons_ = But to return to our subject. (See _Mouton_.)

_Vous en revenez toujours là_ = You are always harping on that string.

_Je n’en reviens pas_ = I cannot get over it (astonishment).

[Or, pop., “j’en suis baba.”]

_N’y revenez pas_ = (lit.) Do not come here again; (fig.) Do not do that again.

_Cela revient à dire_ = That amounts to saying.

_Cela revient au même_ = That is just the same thing.

_Je reviens de loin_ = (lit.) I come from a long distance; (fig.) I am recovering from a long illness.

_Son nom ne me revient pas_ = I do not recollect his name.

_Sa figure me revient_ = I like his face.

_Je suis bien revenu sur le compte de votre frère_ = I have lost all the illusions I had of your brother.

Rêver

_Cet homme rêve tout éveillé_ = That man dreams with his eyes open.

Revers

*_Toute médaille a son revers_ = There is a dark side to every picture.

Revoir

_À revoir_ = To be revised.

_Au revoir!_ = Till we meet again.

Richesse

_La richesse rend honnête_ = Rich men have no faults.

[The bishop’s pun may be repeated: “Get on, get honour, get honest.”

“Quand on est couronnée, on a toujours le nez bien fait.”--PERRAULT, _Les Souhaits ridicules_.]

Rien

“Dans le siècle où nous sommes, On ne donne rien pour rien”

= At the present day people give nothing for nothing, and precious little for sixpence. [MOLIÈRE, _École des Femmes_, iii. 2. _Rien_ here shows its derivation from _rem_ (a thing). It was not always used with _ne_.]

_Ne faites semblant de rien_ = Look as if nothing were the matter.

_Comme si de rien n’était_ = As if nothing were the matter.

*_Qui ne risque rien n’a rien_ = Nothing venture, nothing win.

[“Qui ne s’aventure perd cheval et mule.”]

*_Qui ne demande rien n’a rien_ = Lose nothing for want of asking; If you do not ask, you will not get.

_Il ne sait rien de rien_ = 1. He knows absolutely nothing. 2. He is quite in the dark.

_En un rien de temps_ = In a trice.

_En moins de rien_ = In less than no time.

_Pas plus gros que rien_ = Next to nothing.

_Il n’est rien moins que courageux_ = He is anything but courageous.

_Pour rien au monde_ = Not for the life of me.

Rincer

_Se rincer la dalle_ (pop.) = To wet one’s whistle.

Rire

*_Rira bien qui rira le dernier_ = They have most to laugh at who laugh last; Let them laugh that win.

*_Tel qui rit vendredi dimanche pleurera_ = Sorrow treads on the heels of mirth; Laugh to-day and cry to-morrow.

*_Marchand qui perd ne peut rire_ = Let those laugh who win.

_Il a toujours le mot pour rire_ = He is ever ready with a joke; He is full of fun.

_Il m’a ri au nez_ = He laughed in my face.

_Rire aux éclats_ = To roar with laughter.

_Je me tordais de rire_ (fam.) = I was splitting my sides with laughter.

_Il riait à gorge déployée_ = He was roaring with laughter.

_Rire dans sa barbe_ (or, _sous cape_) = To laugh in one’s sleeve. (See _Cape_.)

_Rire du bout des dents_ = To force a laugh.

_Rire jaune_ = To laugh on the wrong side of one’s mouth.

_Rire aux anges_ = 1. To laugh immoderately; 2. To laugh to oneself.

_C’est un pince-sans-rire_ = He is a dry joker.

Risée

_Il est la risée de tout le monde_ = He is the laughing-stock of every one.

Roche

_C’est un homme de la vieille roche_ = He belongs to the good old stock; He is a man of the old school.

_Clair comme de l’eau de roche_ = As clear as crystal.

Roi

_C’est la cour du roi Pétaud_ = This is bedlam let loose; Dover Court--all speakers, no hearers.

[Le roi Pétaud (Lat. _peto_ = I ask) was the chief that beggars used to choose for themselves. As he had no more authority than his subjects, the name is given to a house where every one is master. Comp. MOLIÈRE, _Tartufe_, i. 1.--

“On n’y respecte rien, chacun y parle haut, Et c’est tout justement la cour du roi Pétaud.”

A variant is: “C’est une vraie pétaudière.”]

_Le roi n’est pas son cousin_ = He is very haughty (so that he would not acknowledge the king as his cousin).

Rompre

_Applaudir un acteur à tout rompre_ = To applaud an actor so as to bring the house down (to lift the roof).

Rondement

_Il y va rondement_ = He acts frankly and quickly.

_Il mènera cette affaire rondement_ = He will not dally about that matter.

Rose

_Il n’est point de rose sans épines_ = Every rose has its thorn; No rose without a thorn.

Rôti

_Il ne faut pas s’endormir sur le rôti_ = We must keep our wits about us; We must not neglect our work; We must not be too slow over it; We must not rest on our laurels.

[Literally, to go to sleep whilst cooking the meat.]

Roue

_Il fait la roue_ = He shows off.

Rouge

_Se fâcher tout rouge_ = To get into a passion.

_Voir rouge_ = To be seized with a sudden thirst for blood.

Roulette

_Cela marche comme sur des roulettes_ = That is getting on swimmingly.

Royaliste

_Être plus royaliste que le roi (plus catholique que le pape)_ = To out-Herod Herod.

Royauté

“_La royauté, place noyée de lumière où toute tache paraît une fange sordide_” = “In that fierce light which beats upon a throne And blackens every blot.” [TENNYSON, _Idylls of the King_, Dedication.]

Rubis

_Faire_ (or, _payer_) _rubis sur l’ongle_ = To pay to the last farthing.

[This expression means literally to drain a tumbler so completely that there just remains in it one drop of wine, which being put on the nail looks like a ruby.

“Je sirote mon vin, quel qu’il soit, vieux, nouveau; Je fais rubis sur l’ongle, et n’y mets jamais d’eau.” REGNARD, _Folies Amoureuses_, iii. 4.]

Ruisseau

*_Les petits ruisseaux font les grandes rivières_ = Many a little makes a mickle.

S.

Sac

*_Autant pèche celui qui tient le sac que celui qui met dedans_ = The receiver is as bad as the thief.

[_Wer die Letter hält ist so schuldig wie der Dieb._]

_Tu sais que je n’ai plus le sac_ = You know I have no more money.

_Un homme de sac et de corde_ = A regular ruffian.

_Prendre quelqu’un la main dans le sac_ = To catch any one in the very act.

_Il m’a laissé voir le fond du sac_ = I guessed his intentions in spite of him.

_Juger sur l’étiquette du sac_ = To judge by appearances.

*_Dans les petits sacs sont les fines épices_ = Little fellows are often great wits; Small parcels hold fine wares. (See _Aune_ and _Onguent_.)

Saint

_Tout le saint-frusquin_ (fam.) = The whole jolly lot (referring to money or clothes).

_Toute la sainte journée_ = The whole blessed (_or_, livelong) day.

Salut

*_À bon entendeur salut_ = A word to the wise is enough. _Verb. sap._ (See _Avis_.)

Sang

_Cela fait faire du mauvais sang_ = That causes one to worry.

_Suer sang et eau_ (fam.) = To strain every nerve.

*_Bon sang ne peut mentir_ = Good breeding always shows itself; Like father, like son.

Sapin

_Sa toux sent le sapin_ = He has a churchyard cough.

[_Sapin_ = deal, of which coffins are made.]

Sauce

_On ne sait à quelle sauce le mettre_ = There is no knowing what to do with him.

*_Trop de cuisiniers gâtent la sauce_ = Too many cooks spoil the broth.

[Although this may be but a translation of the English proverb, it is of constant use in France.]

Saut

_Il fait tout par sauts et par bonds_ = He does everything by fits and starts.

Sauter

_Il s’est fait sauter la tête_ (or, _la cervelle_, more fam. _le caisson_) = He blew his brains out.

_Faire sauter la banque_ = To break the bank (gambling).

Sauver

*_Sauve qui peut_ = Every one for himself; Run for your lives.

_Je me sauve_ = I must be off.

Savoir

_Je ne sais comment cela est arrivé_ = I am at a loss to explain how it happened.

_Pas que je sache_ = Not to my knowledge.

_Je suis tout je ne sais comment_ = I am out of sorts.

_C’est à savoir_ = That remains to be seen.

_Il en sait plus d’une_ (fam.) = He knows more than one trick; He knows a trick or two.

_Il a beaucoup de savoir faire_ = He has his wits about him; He knows how to manage people.

_Il a du savoir vivre_ = He knows how to behave; He is well bred.

_Un je ne sais quoi_ = A “something” (I know not what).

*_De savoir vient avoir_ = Knowledge is power.

*_Qui plus sait plus se tait_ = A still tongue shows a wise head.

*_Qui rien ne sait, de rien ne doute_ = Who knows nothing, doubts nothing; Ignorance is bliss.

Savon

_Je lui donnerai un savon_ (fam.) = I will blow him up.

[German: _Ich werde ihm den Kopf waschen._]

Scène

_Je lui ai fait une scène_ = 1. I had a row with him. 2. I reproached (_or_, abused) him violently.

Scie

_Quelle scie!_ (fam.) = What a bother!

Séance

_Séance tenante_ = Forthwith; There and then.

Sec

_C’est un grand sec_ = He is a tall, spare man.

_Sec comme un pendu_ = As thin as a lath.

_Boire sec_ = To drink hard.

_Il est à sec_ (pop.) = He is hard up, broke, in low water.

Sécher

_Sécher sur pied_ = To pine away.

Secours

_Crier au secours_ = To cry for help.

Secret

*_Secret de deux, secret de Dieu, Secret de trois, secret de tous_ = No secret but between two.

Seigneur

*_À tout seigneur tout honneur_ = Honour to whom honour is due.

Sel

_Mettre du sel sous la queue d’un oiseau_ = To put salt on a bird’s tail.

Sellette

_Mettre sur la sellette_ = To cross-question; To haul over the coals (fam.).

[_La sellette_ was the small wooden seat on which a culprit sat during his trial.]

Semaine

_Cet officier est de semaine_ = He is officer of the week.

_Il dépensa toute sa semaine_ = He spent all his week’s wages (_or_, pocket-money).

_Je le ferai la semaine des trois (quatre) jeudis_ = I shall do it in a week of Sundays (_i.e._ never).

[Also: _Je le ferai quand les poules auront des dents._]

_Prêter à la petite semaine_ = To lend money at high interest for a short time.

Semblable

_A-t-on jamais vu rien de semblable?_ = Did you ever see such a thing?

_Rien de semblable_ = Nothing of the sort.

Sembler

_Comme bon vous semble_ = Just as you please.

_Si bon vous semble_ = If you think fit.

Semelle

_Lever la semelle devant quelqu’un_ = To show any one a clean pair of heels.

Sens

_Cela tombe sous le sens_ = That is self-evident, obvious.

_Sens dessus dessous_ = Upside down; Topsy-turvy.

_Sens devant derrière_ = Wrong side first.

_À contresens_ = Contrary to the meaning; In the wrong way.

Sentir

_Cela ne sent pas bon_ = (fig.) I don’t like the look of that.

_Je ne me sens pas de joie_ = I am beside myself with joy.

Service

_Qu’y a-t-il pour votre service?_ = What can I do for you?

Servir

_Madame est servie_ = Dinner is served.

*_À quoi sert de vous mettre en colère?_ = What is the use of getting angry?

Seul

_Cela va tout seul_ = That is no trouble; That works of its own accord.

Si

_Il n’y a pas de si qui fasse_ = There is no excuse for it.

_Avec un si on mettrait Paris dans une bouteille_ = Such suppositions are idle; If wishes were horses, beggars would ride.

_Il n’est pas riche._--_Oh! que si_ = He is not rich.--Isn’t he, though!

Sien

*_Chacun le sien n’est pas trop_ = Let each have his own, then all is fair.

_Il fait des siennes_ = He is up to his old tricks again.

_Il en sera du sien_ = He will be a loser by it.

_On n’est jamais trahi que par les siens_ = It is always one’s friends (_or_, confederates) who betray one.

Singe

_Le singe est toujours singe, fût-il vêtu de pourpre_ =

An ape’s an ape, a varlet’s a varlet, Though they be clad in silk or scarlet.

_Il l’a payé en monnaie de singe_ = He paid him with promises; He jeered at him instead of paying him.

[This expression originated in the ordinance of St. Louis regulating the payment of the tolls at the gates of Paris. Showmen were exempted from payment on causing their apes to skip and dance in front of the toll-keeper. Comp. ESTIENNE BOILEAU, _Establissements des métiers de Paris_, Chapitre del péage de Petit Pont:--“Li singes au marchant doibt quatre deniers, se il por vendre le porte: se li singes est a homme qui l’aist acheté por son déduit, si est quites, et se li singes est au joueur, jouer en doibt devant le péagier, et por son jeu doibt estre quites de toute la chose qu’il achète à son usage et aussitôt le jongleur sont quite por un ver de chanson.”]

Soif

*_On ne saurait faire boire un âne s’il n’a soif_ = One man can take a horse to the water, but twenty cannot make him drink.

Solide

_Il songe au solide_ = He has an eye to the main chance.

Soleil

_Montrer le soleil avec un flambeau_ = To hold a farthing rushlight to the sun; To paint the lily.

Somme (_m._)

_Je n’ai fait qu’un somme_ = I never woke all night.

Somme (_f._)

_Somme toute_ = After all; Taking everything into consideration; To conclude.

_En somme_ = On the whole; In the main.

Songe

“_Puisqu’en vous il est faux que songes sont mensonges_” = Since with you, it is untrue that dreams go by contraries. [MOLIÈRE, _Étourdi_, iv. 3.]

*_Mal d’autrui n’est que songe_ = Other people’s woes do not affect us much.

_C’est un songe-creux_ = He is full of idle fancies (or, day dreams); He is a wool-gatherer.

Sonner

_Elle a quarante ans bien sonnés_ = She is over forty.

_Il est trois heures sonnées_ = It has struck three.

_Payer en bonnes espèces sonnantes (et trébuchantes)_ = To pay in hard cash.

Sornette

_Il nous berce de sornettes_ = He puts us off with silly tales.

Sort

_Le sort en est jeté_ = The die is cast; _Alea jacta est._

_Elle lui a jeté un sort_ = She cast a spell over him; He is infatuated with her.

_Tirer au sort_ = To draw lots (for the army, etc.).

Sorte

_Je lui ai parlé de la bonne sorte_ = I gave it him soundly; I gave him a piece of my mind.

Sortie

_Il a fait une sortie_ = He flew into a passion.

Sot

_C’est un sot en trois lettres_ = He is a thorough fool.

_Quelque sot le ferait_ = One would be a fool to do that.

*_A sotte question point de réponse_ = Answer a fool according to his folly; A silly question needs no answer.

_Un sot trouve toujours un plus sot qui l’admire_ = Even a fool will always find admirers. [BOILEAU, _Art Poétique_, 1.]

_Il n’y a pas de sots métiers, il n’y a que de sottes gens_ = People may be petty, but work never is.

Sou

_Il a fait de cent sous quatre livres, et de quatre livres rien_ = He has brought his noble to ninepence, and his ninepence to nothing.

[_Livre_ here has nothing to do with our English pound sterling. It is practically the equivalent of the modern franc. Hence the proverb means: He reduced 100 sous to 80 sous.]

_Une affaire de deux sous_ = A twopenny-halfpenny affair.

_Cela vaut mille francs comme un sou_ = It is worth £40 if it is worth a penny.

Souche

_C’est une vraie souche_ = He is a regular log.

_Faire souche_ = To found a family.

Soufflet

_Donner un soufflet à Vaugelas_ = To murder the King’s English; To offend Lindley Murray.

[Vaugelas (1585-1650) was a celebrated writer on French grammar, one of the first members of the Académie Française, and one of the chief contributors to its Dictionary. Comp. MOLIÈRE, _Les Femmes Savantes_, ii. 7: “Elle y met Vaugelas en pièces tous les jours.” _Donner un soufflet à Ronsard_ was also used, and, in the Middle Ages, _Casser la tête de Priscien_, from the famous grammarian of the fourth century.]

Souhait

*_Si souhaits fussent vrais_, } = { If wishes were horses, _Pastoureaux rois seraient_. } { Beggars would ride.

[Compare _Si_.]

Souhaiter

_Je t’en souhaite!_ (pop.) = I wish you may get it.

_Souhaiter la bonne année à quelqu’un_ = To wish some one a happy new year.

Soûl

*_A merle soûl cerises sont amères_ = Plenty makes dainty.

_Parler tout son soûl_ (pop.) = To speak to one’s heart’s content.

Soulier

_Être dans ses petits souliers_ = To be uneasy in one’s mind; To be on pins and needles.

Soumettre

_Il faut se soumettre ou se démettre_ = One must knuckle under or clear out.

[Gambetta said this to Marshal MacMahon during the crisis of 16th May 1875.]

Soupe

_S’emporter comme une soupe au lait_ = To fly into a passion without warning; To be of a very hasty temper.

_Trempé comme une soupe_ = Wet to the skin; Dripping wet.

_C’est un marchand de soupe._ (See _Marchand_.)

Sourd

_Sourd comme un pot_ = As deaf as a post.

*_Vous faites la sourde oreille_ = None so deaf as those who will not hear.

_Frapper comme un sourd_ = To beat unmercifully.

_Il court un bruit sourd_ = A rumour is being whispered.

_Ils ont recours à des menées sourdes_ = They have recourse to underhand dealings.

Sourdine

_Il fait ses coups à la sourdine_ = He acts secretly, in an underhand manner.

Sourire

_Cela me sourit assez_ = I rather like this.

Souris

*_Souris qui n’a qu’un trou est bientôt prise_ = It is good to have more than one string to one’s bow.

*_On entendrait trotter une souris_ (or, _voler une mouche_) = One could hear a pin drop.

_Elle est éveillée comme une petite souris_ (or, _comme une potée de souris_) = She is as brisk as a bee.

Souvenir

_Autant que je puisse m’en souvenir_ = To the best of my recollection.

_C’est du plus loin qu’il me souvienne_ = 1. I can barely remember it. 2. It is as far back as I can recollect.

Souvent

_Plus souvent!_ (fam.) = Not if I know it! Twice!

Sucre

_Casser du sucre sur la tête de quelqu’un_ (pop.) = To speak ill of any one in his absence.

Suite

_Cette maladie peut avoir des suites_ = That illness may have serious consequences.

_Il n’a pas d’esprit de suite_ = He is not consistent; He keeps at nothing long.

_Suite_ (of a serial story or article) = Continuation; Continued.

[Also:

_Suite et fin_ = Conclusion. _À suivre_ = To be continued.

_La suite au prochain numéro_ = To be continued in our next.]

Sujet

_Être sujet à l’heure_ = To be tied to time.

_Être sujet à caution_ = Not to be relied upon. (See _Caution_.)

_C’est un mauvais sujet_ = He is a scamp, “a bad lot.”

[This is used in speaking of tiresome children, of flighty young men, and of real rogues.]

_Petit mauvais sujet!_ = Little rascal! (to children).

Supplice

_Être au supplice_ = To be on thorns.

Sûr

_Pour sûr!_ (fam.) = I should think so, indeed!

T.

Table

_Tenir table ouverte_ = To keep open house.

_Faire table rase_ = To make a clean sweep and begin again; To start everything afresh.

_Jouer cartes sur table_ = To act frankly, above board.

Tâche

_Prendre à tâche_ = To make it one’s business.

_Travailler à la tâche_ = To work by the piece.

Taillable

_Vilains taillables et corvéables à merci_ = Serfs taxable and workable at their lord’s will and pleasure.

Taille

_Il est de taille à se défendre_ = He is big enough to defend himself.

“_Ils nous ont fait une France à leur taille_” (BÉRANGER) = They have brought France down to their level.

_Se tenant par la taille_ = With their arms round each other’s waists.

_Frapper d’estoc et de taille_ = 1. To cut and thrust. 2. To hit right and left; To lay about one.

Talon

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

_La bande se dispersa, les talons aux épaules_ = The gang took to their heels.

_J’ai l’estomac dans les talons_ = I am very hungry.

Tambour

_On l’a mené tambour battant_ = They led him with a high hand; They played the martinet with him.

_Il sortirent tambour battant, mèche allumée_ = They went out with all the honours of war.

Tant

_Tous tant que nous sommes_ = Every one of us.

_Être tant à tant_ = To be even (in a game).

_Si cela vous ennuie tant soit peu, ne le faites pas_ = If that is the least trouble, do not do it.

_Elle n’est pas jolie, tant s’en faut_ = She is not pretty, far from it; She is anything but good-looking.

_Vous m’en direz tant_ = That alters the case; Ah! now I understand. (See _Dire_.)

_Est-ce qu’elle est belle?--Elle est comme il y en a tant_ = Is she beautiful?--Nothing to stare at; Nothing out of the common.

_Vous l’avez fait tant bien que mal_ = You did it in a casual (off-hand) way.

_Je l’ai fait tant bien que mal_ = I did it as well as I could, though I know it is not well done.

_Si tant est que_ .... = If it be true that....

Tapis

_Être sur le tapis_ = To be the subject of general conversation; To be broached.

_Amuser le tapis_ (or, _la galerie_) = To amuse people by talking the time away.

Tapisserie

_Faire tapisserie_ (fam.) = To be a wall-flower at a ball.

Tard

*_Mieux vaut tard que jamais_ = Better late than never.

[This is first found in Dionysius of Halicarnassus (ix. 11): “It is better beginning late doing our duties than never.”]

Tarder

_Il me tarde de parler_ = I am anxious to speak.

_Il ne tardera pas à venir_ = It will not be long before he comes.

Tarte

_C’est sa tarte à la crème_ = It is his one constant objection. [MOLIÈRE, _École des Femmes_, i. 1.]

Tel

*_Tel maître, tel valet_ = Like master, like man; Like well, like bucket.

[“Selon le clerc est deu le maistre.”--VILLON, _Grand Testament_, 568.]

*_Telle vie, telle fin_ = Men die as they live.

_Je vous le rends tel quel_ = I return it to you just as it was lent to me.

_Je la prendrai telle quelle_ = I will take it just as it is.

_Ce sont des gens tels quels_ (fam.) = They are “no great shakes,” just ordinary people, humdrum people.

_Tel est pris qui croyait prendre_ = It is a case of the biter bit.

_Monsieur un tel_ = Mr. So-and-so.

Temps

_Il se donne du bon temps_ = He does not work too hard; He enjoys himself; He has a good time of it.

_Il prend le temps comme il vient_ = He takes things easily.

_Cela a fait son temps_ = That has had its day.

*_Du temps que Berthe filait_ = When the world was young; When Adam delved and Eve span.

_Si le temps le permet_ = Wind and weather permitting.

_Le temps est à la pluie_ = It looks like rain.

_Le temps perdu ne se répare_ (or, _rattrape_) _pas_ = Time wasted is gone indeed.

*_Qui a temps a vie_ = While there is life, there is hope; _Dum spiro spero._

_Par le temps qui court_ = Nowadays; As times go.

*_Autres temps, autres mœurs_ = Manners change with the times.

_Au temps!_ = As you were! (military command).

[This is sometimes incorrectly written “Autant,” but military movements were formerly divided into _temps_. When the drill-sergeant makes a mistake in giving the word of command, he says, “Au temps pour moi” = “My mistake, as you were!”]

Tendre

_Il vaut mieux tendre la main que le cou_ = It is better to beg than to steal.

_L’arc toujours tendu se gâte_ = All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.

[“Neque semper arcum tendit Apollo.”--HORACE, _Carm_, II. x. 20.]

Tendresse

_Tendresse maternelle_ } = { A mother’s truth _Toujours se renouvelle._ } { Keeps constant youth.

[Archbishop Trench quotes the French and German forms as rhyming equally well in both languages; the English, he confesses, is not such a good translation. The German is:

Mutter treu’ Wird täglich neu.]

Tenir

_Il ne tint à rien qu’ils ne se battissent_ = They were within an ace of fighting.

_Quand on est bien, on ne s’y peut tenir_ = The love of change makes us give up even a comfortable position.

_Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras_ = A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

[Also: _Un bon aujourd’hui vaut mieux que deux demain._]

_Il tient de son père_ = He takes after his father.

_Il tient à ce livre_ = He treasures that book.

_Je ne tiens plus à rien_ = I no longer care for anything.

_Il ne tiendra pas à moi qu’il ne réussisse_ = It will not be my fault if he does not succeed.

_Je le tiens de bonne source_ = I have it on good authority.

_Tenir le loup par les oreilles_ = To be in a critical situation, dilemma.

_On le tient à quatre_ = It needs four men to hold him down.

_Je me suis tenu à quatre pour ne pas lui dire ses vérités_ = It was almost more than I could do not to tell him what I thought of him.

_Il n’y a pas d’amitié qui tienne_ = Friendship has nothing to do with the question; It must be done in spite of friendship.

_Qu’à cela ne tienne_ = Do not let that be any objection; Never mind that.

_Je n’y tiens pas_ = I am not particular about it; I am not keen on it.

_Je n’y tiens plus_ = I cannot stand it any longer.

_Je n’y ai pas tenu_ = I could not contain myself.

_Je ne sais à quoi m’en tenir_ = I do not know what to believe.

_Tenir comme teigne_ (pop.) = To stick like wax.

_À quoi cela tient-il?_ = What is that owing to?

_Il ne tient qu’à lui de commencer_ = It rests entirely with him to begin; He can begin when he likes.

_Cela lui tient au cœur_ = He is anxious about it.

_Il n’a pas cédé, il a tenu bon_ = He did not give away, he stuck to it.

_Tenez-vous-le pour dit_ = Take it for granted; Bear that in mind.

_Il en tient_ = 1. He is smitten. 2. He is caught.

_Tenez-vous-en là_ = Stop there, go no further in the matter; Be satisfied with what you have already obtained.

_Tiens! c’est vous?_ = Hullo! is that you?

_Tiens, tiens!_ = Indeed, you don’t say so!

Terme

*_Il y a terme à tout_ = There is an end to everything.

[A German proverb says: “Everything has an end--a sausage two.”]

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

_Le terme vaut l’argent_ = Time is money.

_Ménagez un peu vos termes_ = Moderate your expressions a little; Be a little careful in what you say.

Terrain

_En mathématiques il est sur son terrain_ = He is quite in his element at mathematics.

_Tâter le terrain_ = To feel one’s way (fig.).

Terroir

_Il sent le terroir_ = He is racy of the soil; He savours of his country.

Tête

_Il a la tête près du bonnet_ = He is hasty, hot-headed.

*_Ce sont deux têtes dans un bonnet_ = They are hand and glove together.

_Cet homme y va tête baissée_ = That man rushes blindly into it; That man sets to work energetically.

_C’est un homme de tête_ = He has a head on his shoulders; He is a man of resource.

_Il s’est monté la tête_ = He got excited over fancied or exaggerated wrongs.

_C’est une tête carrée_ = He is an obstinate fellow.

_J’en ai par-dessus la tête_ = 1. I am sick and tired of it. 2. I am head over ears in it.

_Je lui laverai la tête_ (pop.) = I will give it to him; I will give him a sound drubbing.

_Il ne sait où donner de la tête_ = He does not know which way to turn.

[_Donner_ here has the meaning of _heurter_, _frapper de la tête_.]

_Donner de la tête contre le mur_ = To hit one’s head against a stone wall.

_La tête me tourne_ = I feel giddy; my head swims.

_Il a mauvaise tête_ = He is a wrong-headed fellow.

_Il fait à sa tête_ = He will have his own way.

_Cet homme a mauvaise tête et bon cœur_ = That man is quick-tempered, but kind-hearted.

_Vous lui avez tenu tête_ = You did not give in to him.

_Cet homme a de la tête_ = That man has his head screwed on the right way.

Tiers

_Il ne faut pas dire vos affaires au tiers et au quart_ = You must not tell your business to all the world, to everybody.

_Le tiers et le quart_ = Tom, Dick, and Harry.

Timbre

_Il a le timbre fêlé_ (fam.) = He is cracked; He has a screw loose.

Tirer

_Il se fera tirer l’oreille_ = He will require pressing.

_Il tire le diable par la queue_ = He leads a struggling existence.

_Vous ne me tirerez pas les vers du nez_ = You will not pump me (_i.e._ make me tell secrets).

_Cet homme se tirerait d’un puits_ = That man would get out of any difficulty, is full of resource.

_Je me ferais tirer à quatre avant de parler_ = Wild horses would not make me speak.

_Il tire (touche) à sa fin_ = He is on his last legs.

_Je saurai en tirer parti_ = I shall be able to turn it to account.

*_Tirez le rideau, la farce est jouée_ = Ring down the curtain, the play is over.

[Words reported to have been said by Rabelais just before his death.]

Titre

_On m’a donné cela à titre gratuit_ (or, _gracieux_) = They gave me that for nothing.

_Cet or n’est pas au titre légal_ = This gold is not up to the standard.

_À ce titre (compte) j’y perds_ = At that rate I am a loser.

Toit

_Crier par-dessus les toits_ = To proclaim from the housetops.

Tomber

_Je tombe d’accord avec vous sur ce point_ = I am at one with you on that head.

_Je tombe des nues_ = I am astounded.

_Cet homme-là est bien tombé_ = That man has fallen on his feet; That man has applied to the right person (_or_, ironic), to the wrong person.

_L’enfant tombe par terre, mais le fruit tombe à terre_ = A child falls on the ground, while fruit falls to the earth.

[_Par terre_ = from one’s own height; _à terre_ = from any height.]

Tordre

_Je me tordais de rire_ (fam.) = I was splitting my sides (_or_, convulsed) with laughter.

Tort

_Vous vous êtes mis dans votre tort_ = You put yourself in the wrong.

_À tort ou à raison_ = Rightly or wrongly.

_À tort et à travers_ = At random, thoughtlessly.

Tôt

*_Le plus tôt sera le mieux_ = The sooner, the better.

Toucher

_Elle a l’air de ne pas y toucher_ = She looks as if butter would not melt in her mouth; She is very sarcastic without appearing to mean anything. (Comp. _Nitouche_.)

_C’est un touche-à-tout_ = He is a Jack of all trades; He meddles with everything.

_Cela touche à la folie_ = That is but one remove from madness; That borders on lunacy.

_Touchez-là_ = Here’s my hand on it.

Tour

_Faire ses quinze_ (or, _trente-six_) _tours_ = To do a hundred useless things.

*_À chacun son tour_ = Every dog has his day; Now it is _my_ turn.

_Elle est faite au tour_ (or, _moule_) = She has a splendid figure.

_Il fit cela en un tour de main_ = He did that in a moment.

_Un tour de faveur_ = Permission to go (_or_, do anything) before one’s turn.

Trac

_Avoir le trac_ (fam.) = To be funky.

Train

_Mettre une affaire en train_ = To put a thing in hand.

_Pas dans le train_ = Not up-to-date; Of an older school.

_Il le mène bon train dans cette affaire_ = He drives him hard in that matter.

_Il nous a menés bon train_ = He brought us along at a great rate.

_Allez toujours votre train_ = Go on as usual.

_Il est en train d’écrire_ = He is in the act of writing; He is just writing.

_Je ne suis pas en train ce matin_ = I do not feel myself this morning.

_Il est en train_ (pop.) = He is slightly intoxicated.

_Faire du train_ (pop.) = To kick up a dust.

_Il mène grand train_ = He lives like a lord.

_À fond de train_ = At full speed.

Trait

_Ce que vous dites n’a pas trait à la question_ = What you say has nothing to do with the question.

_Ce sont là de vos traits_ = That is just like you.

_Avaler d’un trait_ = To drink off at one gulp, at a draught.

Traite

_Tout d’une traite_ = At a stretch, without stopping.

Traiter

_Il m’a traité de fat_ = He called me a fop.

_Il m’a traité en roi_ = He treated me like a lord.

Traître

_Il n’a pas dit un traître mot_ = He never spoke a single word.

Tramontane

_Perdre la tramontane_ = Not to know which way to turn; To lose one’s head.

[Literally, to lose one’s bearings. Tramontane is derived from the Italian _tramontana_, and originally meant the pole-star, which was the star seen from the Mediterranean across the mountains (the Alps). Compare _s’orienter_. See _Boule_.]

Trancher

_Cet homme n’est pas très honnête, tranchons le mot, c’est un coquin_ = That man is not very honourable, in plain English, he is a rascal. (See _Mot_.)

_Trancher la question, la difficulté_ = To cut the Gordian knot; To solve the difficulty.

_Trancher du grand seigneur_ = To try and play the lord.

_Trancher dans le vif_ = (lit.) To cut to the quick; (fig.) To set to work in earnest.

Travers

_Il a l’esprit de travers_ = He has an awkward temper; He does not see things as they are; He is cross-grained.

_Il me regarda de travers_ = He looked black (askance) at me.

_Il prend tout de travers_ = He takes everything amiss.

Tréfonds

_J’en sais le fonds et le tréfonds_ = I know the ins and outs of it, the long and the short of it.

[Also: _Je connais les tenants et aboutissants de l’affaire._]

Tremper

_Nous fûmes trempés jusqu’aux os_ = We were wet to the skin.

Trente

_Être sur son trente-et-un_ (fam.) = To be dressed up to the nines.

Tricherie

*_Tricherie revient à son maître_ = Curses, like chickens, come home to roost.

Trier

_Les soldats de la Garde étaient tous triés sur le volet_ = The soldiers of the Guard were all picked men.

[_Volet_ is a gardener’s board on which he sorts seeds.]

Triste

_C’est un triste sire_ = He is a despicable, dishonourable fellow.

Tromper

_Il n’y a pas à s’y tromper_ = There is no mistake about it.

Trop

_Je ne sais trop_ = I don’t exactly know.

*_Qui dit trop ne dit rien_ = He who wants to prove too much proves nothing.

Trou

_Faire un trou à la lune_ (fam.) = To shoot the moon; To fly from one’s creditors.

Troubler

_C’est un trouble-fête_ = He is a mar-joy, a wet blanket.

Trousse

_Le voleur fuyait, mais nous étions à ses trousses_ = The thief made off, but we were at his heels.

Trouver

_Cela se trouve bien_ = That is lucky.

Tu

_Être à tu et à toi_ = To be on very familiar terms with.

Tuer

_Crier à tue-tête_ = To shout at the top of one’s voice.

U.

Un

_Ne faire ni une ni deux_ = To make no bones about it; To make up one’s mind quickly.

_C’est tout un_ = It is all the same.

Union

_L’union fait la force_ = United we stand, divided we fall.

Usine

_Ce ne sont que des usines à bachot_ (pop.) = They are mere cramming shops.

[_Bachot_ = _baccalauréat_ = matriculation. The French equivalent for our B.A. is rather _licencié-ès-lettres_, although the examinations in the two countries are so different that any comparison is very difficult.]