Part 12

_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