French Idioms and Proverbs A Companion to Deshumbert's "Dictionary of Difficulties"
Part 16
[An old game that used to be played in May was for two people to undertake to be able always to show a green twig: failure to do so lost the game.]
_Une verte vieillesse_ = A hale old age.
_Ils sont trop verts_ = The grapes are sour. [LA FONTAINE, _Le Renard et les Raisins_, iii. 11.]
_Mettre un cheval au vert_ = To send a horse to grass.
Vessie
_Il veut nous faire prendre des vessies pour des lanternes_ = He wishes us to believe the moon is made of green cheese.
[“Me voulez vous faire entendant De vecies que ce sont lanternes?” _Maistre Pierre Pathelin_, 800.]
Vie
_Faire vie qui dure_ = To live temperately; To husband one’s resources.
_Avoir la vie dure_ = 1. To have a hard time. 2. To have nine lives.
Vieux
_Vieux comme les rues, comme le monde_ = As old as the hills.
_C’est un homme de la vieille roche_ = He is a man of the old school; he belongs to the good old stock.
_Un vieux de la vieille_ = A veteran of the old Imperial Guard; One of the old brigade.
_Vieil ami et vieux vin sont vraiment deux bons vieux, mais vieux écus sont encore mieux_ = Old friends and old wine are good, but old gold is better than both.
[“Alonzo of Arragon was wont to say in commendation of Age, that Age appeared to be best in four things: Old wood best to burn, old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to read.”--BACON, _Apophthegms_, 101.]
Vif
_Trancher_ (or, _couper_) _dans le vif_ = (lit.) To cut to the quick; (fig.) To set to work in earnest.
_Ce reproche l’a piqué au vif_ = That reproach stung him to the quick.
_Il est vif comme la poudre_ = 1. He is quick-tempered. 2. He is bustling, quick at work.
_De vive voix_ = By word of mouth; Orally.
_Ce sont des descriptions prises sur le vif_ = Those descriptions are life-like.
_Les paysans dans ce tableau sont pris sur le vif_ = The peasants in that picture are life-like.
Vigne
_Il est dans les vignes du Seigneur_ = He is in his cups.
Vin
_Du vin à faire danser les chèvres_ = Sour wine not fit to drink.
*_À bon vin point d’enseigne_ = Good wine needs no bush.
[It was a Roman custom to hang out a branch of ivy at the doors of taverns in honour of Bacchus. Branches of green stuff may still be seen at the doors of wineshops along the Loire and in Burgundy. Kelly traces the word “bosky” (_i.e._ drunk) to this bush.]
_Être entre deux vins_ = To be half seas over (pop.).
*_Le vin entre, la raison sort_ = When ale is in, wit is out.
_On ne connaît pas le vin aux cercles_ = You can’t judge cigars by the picture on the box.
_Tremper son vin_ = To water one’s wine.
[_Tremper_ = _tempérer_, not to wet, but to moderate.]
_Vous mouillez trop votre vin_ = You are drowning the miller.
Violent
_Cela est un peu violent_ = That is too bad.
Violon
_Payer les violons_ = To pay the piper.
Visière
_Je lui ai rompu en visière_ = I attacked (_or_, contradicted) him openly.
[“Je n’y puis plus tenir, j’enrage; et mon dessein Est de rompre en visière à tout le genre humain.” MOLIÈRE, _Le Misanthrope_, i. 1.
Literally the phrase means: to break one’s lance against the visor of one’s enemy.]
Vite
_Plus vite que ça_ (fam.) = Look sharp about it.
Vivre
_Je n’ai pas trouvé âme qui vive_ = I did not find a soul.
*_Qui vivra verra_ = He who lives longest will see most; Time will show (tell).
_Monsieur vit de ses rentes_ = The gentleman is independent (_i.e._ has an income of his own).
_Apprendre à vivre_ = To learn manners.
_Je lui apprendrai à vivre_ = I will teach him better manners (as a threat).
_Comme c’est vécu!_ = How true to life!
Voie
_Ils en sont venus aux voies de fait_ = They came to blows.
_Il est toujours par voies et par chemins_ = He is always on the move, rambling.
_Les affaires sont en voie de hausse_ = Things are looking up.
_Être sur la voie_ = To be on the scent.
_Je suis en voie de le finir_ = I am in a fair way to finish it.
Voilà
_Comme le voilà sale!_ = Just see how dirty he is!
_Ne voilà-t-il pas qu’il est revenu_ = Who should come back but he?
_Voilà comme vous êtes_ = That is just like you.
_Voilà comme je suis_ = You must take me as I am; That’s my way.
Voir
_On n’y voit goutte_ = One can see nothing.
_J’y vois trouble_ = I see dimly; My sight is dim.
_Vous n’avez rien à y voir_ = That is no business of yours.
_Au vu et au su de tout le village_ = Openly, before the whole village.
_Je vous vois venir_ = I see what you are driving at.
_J’ai voulu voir par moi-même_ = I wish to see with my own eyes.
_Il nous en a fait voir de toutes les couleurs_ = He told us all sorts of tales; He worried us beyond all bearing.
Voix
_Je n’ai pas voix au chapitre_ = (lit.) I have no right to speak; (fig.) My opinion is not listened to.
Volée
_Il a obtenu cela entre bond et volée_ = He obtained that at a lucky moment.
_À toute volée_ = At random; At full swing.
_Il est de la haute volée_ = He is a tip-top swell, of the first water, of the upper ten.
Voler (to fly)
_On pouvait entendre voler une mouche_ = One could hear a pin drop.
Voler (to steal)
*_Il ne l’a pas volé_ = He richly deserves it.
Voleur
*_Quand les voleurs se battent, les larcins se découvrent_ = When thieves fall out, honest men get their own.
Volonté
*_La bonne volonté est reputée pour le fait_ = The will is as good as (is taken for) the deed.
Vôtre
_Je serai des vôtres_ = I shall be one of your party; I shall be on your side.
_Vous avez fait des vôtres_ = You have committed follies yourself; You have played pranks too.
Vouer
_Je ne sais à quel saint me vouer_ = I do not know which way to turn.
Vouloir
*_Vouloir c’est pouvoir_ = Where there’s a will there’s a way.
[Also: _La volonté rend tout possible._
“Impossible est un mot que je ne dis jamais.”--COLLIN D’HARLEVILLE, _Malice pour Malice_, i. 8.
Napoléon I., in a letter to Lemarois, 9th July 1813, wrote: “Ce n’est pas possible, m’écrivez vous, cela n’est pas Français.”
“Mirabeau disait un jour à son secrétaire: ‘Impossible! ne me dites jamais ce bête de mot.’”--DUMONT, _Vie de Mirabeau_, quoted in Carlyle’s _French Revolution_, vol. ii. p. 118.]
_Que voulez-vous?_ = 1. What do you want? What can I do for you? 2. What was to be done? 3. What can you expect?
_Vous l’avez voulu!_ = It is your own fault; You would have it.
[“Vous l’avez voulu, George Dandin!” MOLIÈRE, _George Dandin_, i. 9.]
_On ne peut lui en vouloir_ = One cannot be angry with him, blame him.
_En veux-tu? en voilà!_ = As much as ever you like.
_Il y en avait à bouche que veux-tu_ = There was an abundant supply of it; There was plenty for every one.
_Il sait ce que parler veut dire_ = He understands the hidden meaning; He takes the hint.
_Je le veux bien_ = With pleasure! I have no objection.
Vrai
*“_Le vrai peut quelquefois n’être pas vraisemblable_” = Truth is stranger than fiction. [BOILEAU, _Art Poétique_, iii. 48.]
Z.
Zèle
_Surtout, messieurs, pas de zèle!_ = Above all, gentlemen, don’t be too anxious! Don’t try to hurry things on.
[Words attributed to Talleyrand on receiving the staff of the Ministère des Affaires Étrangères.]
“_Trop gratter cuit, Trop parler nuit, Trop manger n’est pas sage. A barbon gris Jeune souris: L’Amour est de tout âge. Enfants de Paris, quel temps fait-il? Il pleut là-bas, il neige ici Pendant la nuit Tous chats sont gris. Pour faire route sûre Si l’amour va Cahin-caha Ménage ta monture._”
CHARLES COLLÉ (1709-1783).
INDEX
INDEX OF ENGLISH PROVERBS
A
Absents always wrong, 2
Ace, within an, 220
Adam delved and Eve span, when, 123, 219
Adversity makes man wise, 229
Against the grain, 201
Akimbo, to put one’s arms, 17
Ale is in, wit is out, 232
All is not gold that glitters, 49
All men are not alike, 114
All’s well that ends well, 124, 172
All work and no play, 220
Almost and very nigh, 160
Ambush, 8
Among the blind, one-eyed is king, 44
And the rest! 170
Answer a fool according to his folly, 214
Appearances, for the sake of, 17
Appetite, good, 18
April fool, 191
Arm in arm, 47
As you make your bed, 41, 81
At first sight, 2
Average, on an, 15, 129
Awkward fix, to get out of an, 180
B
Background, to put in, 188
Back made for burden, 181
Bad day, bad night, 75
Bad thing never dies, 152
Bag and baggage, 106
Band-box, come out of a, 110
Bark worse than bite, 69
Bay, to be at, 2
Beak and claw, 173
Beat about the bush, to, 24, 33, 65, 193
Beat black and blue, 84, 99
Beat hollow, to, 86
Bedlam let loose, 207
Bee in one’s bonnet, 19
Beer, no small, of oneself, 167
Beggars cannot be choosers, 106
Beginning not everything, 74
Behind the scenes, 55
Bell the cat, to, 22, 137
Best cheapest in the end, 158
Best of friends must part, 75
Be the day short, 147
Better dry bread at home, 38
Better late than never, 218
Better the day, better the deed, 42, 148
Between devil and deep sea, 107
Between ourselves, 198
Between two stools, 63
B from a bull’s foot, not to know, 1
Bigwig, 43
Billingsgate, 140
Bird fouls its own nest, an ill, 169
Bird in hand, 220
Birds flown, to find the, 51, 169
Birds of a feather, 22, 140
Bird that catches the worm, 150, 203
Bird told me so, a little, 99
Bit by bit, 9
Biter bit, the, 139, 149
Black eyes, a couple of, 170
Blood from a stone, to get, 67
Blow brains out, 50, 58, 209
Blues, to have the, 169
Boat, to be in same, 108
Bone to pick, to have a, 154
Bore, 201
Born to be hanged, never drowned, 94
Borrowing sorrowing, 21
Bow to circumstances, 32, 50
Boycott, to, 144
Boys will be boys, 147
Brand new, 33
Bread is buttered, which side, 176
Bred in the bone, what is, 54, 63
Broken reed, 19
Broom sweeps clean, a new, 30, 96
Bull by the horns, to seize the, 22
Burn candle at both ends, 60
Burnt child dreads the fire, 63
Business, to mind one’s own, 5
Business is business, 7
Butter would not melt in mouth, 169
Bygones be bygones, to let, 174, 198
C
Cake and eat it, to have one’s, 101, 112
Cake, to take the, 19, 104, 175
Candles away, all cats grey, 64
Cap a story, 203
Cap fits, wear it, if the, 134, 165
Carpenter known by chips, 172
Carry coals to Newcastle, 102
Cart before horse, to put the, 62
Cast in the teeth, to, 168
Castles in the air, 64
Cat after kind, 69
Cat and dog life, to lead a, 3
Catch it, to, 6, 28
Cat may look at a king, 69
Cat on hot bricks, 64
Cat’s away, mice will play, 64
Caught a Tartar, to have, 152
Chaff, to catch with, 17
Chalk and cheese, 147
Chalk it up, 66
Change not a clout, 28
Charity begins at home, 62
Chatterbox, a regular, 36, 166
Cheats never prosper, 4
Chip of the old block, 63, 124
Christmas comes but once a year, 121, 148
Civility costs nothing, 104, 179
Claw me, and I’ll claw thee, 181
Clean as a whistle, 196
Clean sweep, 217
Clear as noonday, 71
Clear as crystal, 207
Clockwork, like, 54
Cloud and a silver lining, 189
Clover, to be in, 78
Coach-and-four through Act of Parliament, 148
Coat does not make gentleman, 139
Cobbler stick to last, let, 161
Cock and bull story, 78
Cock of the walk, 78
Cold shoulder, 33
Come off cheap, 199
Come to blows, 233
Come to the point, 117, 181
Coming--like Christmas, 169
Comparisons are odious, 72
Confession good for soul, 26
Cost what it may, 86
Count chickens before hatched, 70, 76, 182
Cram, 43
Cramming-shop, 227
Creaking door hangs long, 47, 192
Cream of the army, 125
Crown his misfortune, to, 74, 156
Crumb and crust, 10
Cry out before hurt, 16
Cry over spilt milk, 115
Curses come home to roost, 20, 155
Cut coat according to cloth, 45
Cut ground under feet, 141
Cut long story short, 165
D
Daggers drawn, at, 86
Dance attendance to, 88, 138
Dark as pitch, 130
Dark side of picture, 159, 205
Daub yourself with honey, 48
Day after the fair, 167
Dead man, he is a, 6
Dead men’s shoes, 165
Dead men tell no tales, 37
Deaf as a post, as, 215
Death’s door, at, 22, 99
Devil and deep sea, between, 107, 158
Devil not so black as painted, 96
Devil’s own luck, 79
Devil was sick, 96
Diamond cut diamond, 63, 92, 125
Die in the gutter, 175
Die is cast, 213
Dine with Duke Humphrey, 73
Dirt cheap, 3
Discretion better part of valour, 43
Disgorge ill-gotten gains, 136
Distance lends enchantment, 99
Do a thing yourself, 5
Dog at a wedding, 69
Dog bad name and hang, 68
Dog better than dead lion, a living, 90
Dog does not eat dog, 80, 153
Dog has his day, every, 224
Dog in manger, 69
Dog’s-ear a book, 80
Dog will learn no tricks, an old, 146
Done cannot be undone, 117
Doomsday, to wait till, 174
Door with creaking hinge, 120
Down in the mouth, 191
Down to the ground, 4
Do your duty, 95
Dover Court, 207
Draught, to be in a, 11
Draught, to drink at a, 225
Draw in one’s horns, to, 78
Dreams go by contraries, 213
Drink at one gulp, 225
Drink cup to dregs, 41
Drink like a fish, 40
Drop in the ocean, 136
Drop too much, to have a, 82
Dropping water wears away a stone, 103
Drowning man catches at a straw, 3
Drown the miller, 232
Ducks and drakes, to play, 145
Dull as ditchwater, 44, 133
E
Early to bed and early to rise, 23
Easier said than done, 39
East, west, home best, 68
Edged tools, to play with, 122
Edge off one’s appetite, to take, 111
Eel, as slippery as an, 16
Elbow one’s way, 66
Elbow-room, 81
End crowns all, 124, 172
End justifies the means, 42
End to everything, 46, 221
English, in plain, 221
Englishman’s house his castle, 61
Enough is as good as a feast, 78
Errors excepted, 75
Even money, 76
Ever drunk ever dry, 40
Everybody’s business, 16
Every dog has his day, 58
Every inch a republican, 88
Every Jack must have his Jill, 192
Every little helps, 170
Every man for himself, 58, 210
Everything comes man who waits, 23
Extempore, to speak, 2
Extremes meet, 113
Eye to main chance, 213
F
Face the music, 193
Face is her fortune, 27
Faint heart never won fair lady, 143
Fair and softly goes far, 12
Fair words butter no parsnips, 149
Fair words never did harm, 179
Fall between two stools, to, 59
Familiarity breeds contempt, 3
Far fetched, 13
Fault confessed, half redressed, 182
Feather one’s nest, to, 44, 126
Findings keepings, 195
Fine clothes do not fill stomach, 52
Fine feathers make fine birds, 35
Finishing stroke, 83
Finger in every pie, 168
First catch your hare, 182
First come, first served, 95, 194
First in the field, 95
Fish, flesh, nor fowl, 58
Fish in troubled waters, 102
Fish out of water, like a, 191
Fish to fry, other, 63
Fit to a T, 134
Fits and starts, to work by, 33, 43, 209
Fix, to be in a, 101, 185
Flash in the pan, 122
Flesh and blood, in, 58
Flesh creep, to make one’s, 58
Fool’s bolt is soon shot, a, 148
Fools have the best luck, 129
Foot foremost, to put one’s best, 186
Foot in it, to put one’s, 189
Forewarned, forearmed, 26
Fortune knocks once, 129
Fox to keep the geese, to set, 153
Free and easy, 3, 135
French leave, to take, 123
Friend at court, 14
Friend in need is a friend indeed, 13, 37
Frying-pan into the fire, to fall from, 47, 64, 122
Fuel to the fire, to add, 146
Funky, to be, 224
G
Game not worth candle, 60
Gentlemanly, 11
Get blood from a stone, 144
Get out of bed the wrong side, 43
Gift-horse in the mouth, to look at, 49, 66
Gift of the gab, 149
Gild the pill, 187
Give any one the slip, 75
Give him an inch, 48
Give the devil his due, 95
Give twice who gives quickly, 99
Glass houses throw stones, 229
God helps those who help themselves, 9
God sends thread for begun web, 123
God tempers the wind, 48
Go halves, 76
Golden mean, 162
Good as done, 6, 23
Good as gold, as, 144
Good books, to be in one’s, 177
Good breeding always tells, 209
Good name better than riches, 57
Good wine needs no bush, 42, 232
Gordian knot, to cut, 226
Gospel, to take anything for, 21
Go to Jericho, 196
Grandmother to suck eggs, 18, 203
Grapes are sour, 231
Grasp all, lose all, 106
Great cry, little wool, 50
Great wits jump together, 111
Greek to him, it is, 11
Grey mare the better horse, 109, 192
Grist to the mill, 103
Grudge the food he eats, 76
Grudge, to have a, 28
Guilty conscience needs no accuser, 113, 199
H
Habit is second nature, 40
Hackneyed, 79
Hail-fellow-well-met, 75, 176
Hairs, to split, 9
Hale and hearty, 42
Half a loaf is better than no bread, 138, 182
Half in jest, half in earnest, 123
Half seas over, 232
Hall marked, 78
Hand and glove together, 44, 99, 116
Hands make light work, many, 9
Hand to hand, 80
Hand to mouth, to live from, 147
Hanged for a sheep as a lamb, 34, 69, 134
Happen what may, 4, 133
Hard up, 21, 210
Harm watch, harm catch, 155
Harp on same string, 60, 107
Haste makes waste, 141
Haul over the coals, 211
Hawk from handsaw, not to know, 178
Heads or tails, 113
Hear both sides, 71
Helping hand, to give a, 84, 154
Helve after hatchet, 19
He who will not when he may, 202
Hiding, to give a good, 3
High winds blow on high hills, 137
Hint, to take a, 108
Hit the mark, 122
Hit with a vengeance, 154
Holloa before out of wood, 69
Home, no place like, 68, 172
Home, to make oneself at, 3
Honest man’s word, 143, 179
Honesty is the best policy, 126
Honour among thieves, 153
Honour to whom honour is due, 59, 211
Hook or crook, 43
Hooligan, 17
Hope, the last, 188
Horse of another colour, 25, 156
Horse to grass, to send a, 231
Horse, to ride the high, 66
Host, to reckon without, 76, 143
House nor home, 121
H’s, to drop one’s, 89
Hue and cry, 78
Hunger is the best sauce, 18
Hunger tames the lion, 115
Hungry as a hunter, 111
Hungry man is an angry man, 7
Hurry the less speed, the more, 50
I
Idle brain the devil’s workshop, 123
If wishes were horses, 212, 215
Ill bird fouls its own nest, 169
Ill-licked cub, 174
Ill news flies fast, 18
Ill weeds grow apace, 141
Ill wind blows no one good, 42, 156
Image of his mother, the very, 87, 107
Improve upon acquaintance, to, 77
Indian file, 199
In for a penny, in for a pound, 34, 40
Ins and outs, to know, 129, 226
_In vino veritas_, 40
Irishman’s gun, 86
Irons in fire, too many, 63, 151
J
Jack has his Jill, every, 192
Jack of all trades, 196, 224
Jerry-built house, 55
Joke, to be beyond a, 146, 200
Joker, a dry, 207
Judge by appearances, 163
Justice no respecter of persons, 148
K
Keep a dog and bark thyself, 228
Keep open house, 217
Keep the ball rolling, 139
Keep the pot boiling, 158
Key of the street, 59
Kick the bucket, 187
Kill by inches, to, 121
Killed on the spot, 55
Kill two birds, to, 82, 187
Know from Adam, not to, 77
Know, in the, 55
Knowledge is power, 210
Know nothing, doubt nothing, 210
Knuckle under, to, 215
L
Lady, a great, 89
Last straw breaks camel’s back, 46, 103
Laugh best who laugh last, 206
Laugh in forced manner, 46
Laughing-stock, 207
Laugh in one’s sleeve, 31, 53
Laugh on wrong side of face, 207
Laugh to-day, cry to-morrow, 206
Lazy people take most pains, 178
Least said soonest mended, 179
Leave no stone unturned, 71, 106
Leave well alone, 38, 162
Leave without beat of drum, 92
Legal tender, 86
Let cat out of the bag, 159
Let sleeping dogs lie, 64
Let those laugh who win, 206
Lie unblushingly, 21
Life and soul of party, 47
Life in the old dog yet, 43
Light as air, 106
Lightly come, lightly go, 126
Like as two peas, as, 102
Like master, like man, 155, 218
Like sire, like son, 69, 209
Like will to like, 58
Lion had need of the mouse, 129
Lion’s mouth, to rush into, 153
Little fellows are often great wits, 209
Little pitchers have long ears, 64
Little pot soon hot, 185
Little rain lays much dust, 1
Little strokes fell great oaks, 184
Loan loses self and friend, 13
Lock stable door, 105
Long lane without turning, 176
Long looked for comes at last, 169
Look before you leap, 124
Look gift-horse in mouth, 49, 66
Look sharp about it! 232
Lose nothing for want of asking, 206
Lose one’s head, 45
Lot of good that will do, 145
Love dies hard, true, 10
Love laughs at locksmiths, 14
Love me, love my dog, 10
Lurch, to leave in the, 188
M
Mackerel sky, 120
Mad as a March hare, 59, 85
Make a cat laugh, 187
Make best of bad job, 42, 129, 146
Make hay while sun shines, 30
Make mouth water, 103
Man in the street, 194
Man proposes, 142
Manners change, 25
Many a little makes a mickle, 136, 154, 184, 208
Many a true word spoken in jest, 230
March winds and April showers, 158
Mare better horse, the grey, 109, 192
Mare’s nest, to find a, 185
Marines, to tell to, 25
Mar-joy, 227
Match for a person, no, 67
Matter of course, 12
Measure other’s peck, 23
Men die as they live, 218
Mess, to get into a, 25, 101, 185
Mess, to make a pretty, 6
Might is right, 127, 129
Milk and honey, flowing with, 72
Milksop, 227
Mince matters, not to, 65, 166
Mincemeat of, to make, 139
Miserly father, spendthrift son, 26
Misfortunes never come singly, 21, 156
Miss the mark, 81
Money makes money, 103
Money, to be made of, 20
Money, ready, 20
Moon made of green cheese, 149
More frightened than hurt, 185
More haste, less speed, 50, 65, 141, 195
More the merrier, the, 130
Mountain out of molehill, 166, 171
Move on, 71
Mow what you sow, 176
Much ado about nothing, 35
Much coin, much care, 138
Much would have more, 16, 189
Murder king’s English, to, 214
N
Nail right on head, to hit, 99, 107
Narrow shave, 35
Nearer church, 105, 161
Necessity, mother of invention, 176
Needle in bundle of hay, 9
Nice goings on, 34
Nick of time, to come in, 21, 54, 190
Nine days’ wonder, 7
No admittance, 92
Noble to ninepence, to bring, 214
No danger, no glory, 228
No fear of that, 90
No living man all things can, 144
Nod is as good as wink to blind horse, 57
None so deaf, 109, 215
No pay, no piper, 20
No sooner said than done, 23
Not at home, 111
Nothing ask, nothing have, 143
Nothing for nothing, 205
Nothing succeeds like success, 184
Nothing like leather, 174
Nothing new, that is, 77
Nothing venture, nothing win, 206
No thoroughfare, 181
No use my talking, 28, 35
Not in my line, 204
Not up to date, 225
Now or never, 55
O
Oath, to take the, 195
Ogre, to eat like an, 157
Old as the hills, 163, 191, 231
Old birds not caught with chaff, 161
Old dog will learn no tricks, 146
Old-fashioned, quite, 146
Old maid, 74
Old wives’ tales, 78
Once and for all, 42, 58
Once bit, twice shy, 63, 201
Once in a blue moon, 163
One door shuts, another opens, 184
One good turn deserves another, 62, 146
One man can take horse to water, 213
One man may steal a horse, 166
One man’s meat, 170
One scabby sheep, 134
One swallow does not make a summer, 86
Only this once, 86
Open confession good for soul, 26
Opportunity makes the thief, 150
Out-Herod Herod, 208
Out of debt, out of danger, 95
Out of print, 110
Out of sight, out of mind, 73
Out of sorts, 22, 210
Out of the frying-pan, 47
Out of world as out of fashion, 130
Over head and ears, 87
P
P’s and Q’s, to mind one’s, 38
Pack becomes small pedlar, a small, 185
Pay back in own coin, to, 164
Pay, no piper, no, 20
Pay the piper, to, 182
Pay with promises, 212
Pearls before swine, to cast, 184
Penniless, to be, 46, 96
Penny saved is a penny earned, 104, 133
Penny wise and pound foolish, 46, 60
Peril proves who dearly loves, 10
Pet aversion, 37
Pickle, to be in a pretty, 35, 101
Pigeon-holed, to be, 55
Pig in a poke, to buy a, 3
Pin a day, groat a year, 110
Pinch of salt, 36
Pin drop, to hear a, 216
Pins and needles, to be on, 215
Piper, to pay the, 182, 232
Pitch and toss, 187
Pitch, to touch, 38
Pitcher that often goes to the well, 18
Plain as a pikestaff, 71