Part 4

[An expression derived from a game which consisted in lighting a large roll of paper and passing it round a circle of people, each one repeating these words. The roll would often appear to be out, when a vigorous swirl would fan it again into a flame.]

Boniment

_Faiseur de boniment_ (pop.) = A cheap-jack, clap-trap speaker.

[_Bonir_ = to talk like clowns at a fair.]

Bonjour

_C’est simple comme bonjour_ = It is as easy as kiss your hand.

Bonnet

*_C’est bonnet blanc et blanc bonnet_ = It is six of one and half-a-dozen of the other.

_C’est un des gros bonnets_ (or, _légumes_) _de l’endroit_ = He is one of the bigwigs of the place.

_Il a la tête près du bonnet_ = He is quick-tempered, easily ruffled.

_Il a mis son bonnet de travers_ = He is in a bad temper; He got out of bed the wrong side.

[Also: _Il s’est levé du mauvais côté_ (or, _pied_).]

_Jeter son bonnet par dessus les moulins_ (of women) = To throw off all restraint; Not to care a straw for what people may think of your bad conduct.

_Ce sont deux têtes dans un bonnet_ = They are hand and glove together.

_Être triste_ (_gai_, ironic.) _comme un bonnet de nuit_ = To be as dull as ditchwater; To be in the dumps.

[Also: _Gai comme une porte de prison._]

_Il a pris cela sous son bonnet_ = 1. He invented it. 2. He took it upon himself.

_Ses collègues opinent du bonnet_ = His colleagues agree with what he says (without speaking). (See _Opiner_.)

Borgne

*“_Dans le royaume des aveugles les borgnes sont rois_” = Among the blind, the one-eyed is king.

[The quotation comes from J. J. ROUSSEAU’S _Confessions_, Part i., Bk. v.]

Borne

_Il est planté là comme une borne_ = He stands there like a post.

Borner

_Il faut savoir se borner_ = One must place limits on one’s desires.

[“_Qui ne sait se borner ne sut jamais écrire._” BOILEAU, _Art Poétique_, i.]

Bossu

_Rire comme un bossu_ = To split one’s sides with laughter.

Botte

_Il a mis du foin dans ses bottes_ = He has feathered his nest; He has taken care of number one.

_Il est haut comme ma botte_ = He is a mere sixpennyworth of halfpence; He is very short.

_A propos de bottes_ = With reference to nothing in particular.

Bouc

_C’est le bouc émissaire_ = He is the scapegoat.

Bouche

_Faire la bouche en cœur_ = To try and look amiable; To put on a captivating look; To purse up one’s lips.

_Cet argument me ferma la bouche_ = That argument was a poser for me; I could not reply to that.

_Il y en avait à bouche que veux-tu_ = There was a plentiful supply of it.

_Je garde cela pour la bonne bouche_ = I am keeping that for the last.

[_Une bonne bouche_ = A tit-bit.]

_Il prend sur sa bouche pour aider ces gens_ = He stints himself to help those people.

_Faire la petite bouche_ = To be dainty; To have a small appetite; To be hard to please.

_Bouche close (cousue)!_ = Not a word, mind! “Mum’s the word.”

_La bouche fendue jusqu’aux oreilles_ = A mouth stretching from ear to ear.

_Être sur sa bouche_ = To be an epicure.

Bouchée

_Mettre les bouchées doubles_ = To eat quickly; To hurry.

Boule

_Perdre la boule_ (pop.) = To lose one’s head; Not to know what one is doing. (See _Tramontane_.)

Bourgeois

_Les officiers étaient en bourgeois_ (or, _en civil_) = The officers were in plain clothes, in mufti.

_Elle fait une bonne cuisine bourgeoise_ = She is a good plain cook.

_Je prends mes repas dans une pension bourgeoise_ = I board at a private boarding-house.

Bourse

*_Selon ta bourse gouverne ta bouche_ = Cut your coat according to your cloth.

[“Fond pride of dress is sure a very curse; Ere fancy you consult, consult your purse.” BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.]

_Faire bon marché de sa bourse_ = To say a thing has cost less than it has.

_Obtenir une bourse au lycée_ = To gain an exhibition (_or_, scholarship) at a public school.

_Avoir toujours la bourse à la main_ = To have always one’s hand in one’s pocket.

_Loger le diable dans sa bourse_ = To be penniless.

[Coins generally had a cross on them, which was a protection against the devil. (See _Diable_.) Compare GOLDSMITH, _Vicar of Wakefield_, xxi.--“We have not seen the cross of her money.”]

_Ami jusqu’à la bourse_ = A lukewarm friend.

_Sans bourse délier_ = Without any expense.

Bout

_Il tira à bout portant_ = He fired point-blank.

*_Au bout de l’aune faut_ (or, _manque_) _le drap_ = There is an end to everything; The last straw breaks the camel’s back.

_Il est économe de bouts de chandelle_ = He is penny wise and pound foolish.

[Or, _Il fait des économies de bouts de chandelle._]

_Il a ri du bout des lèvres_ = He laughed in a forced manner.

_Il est poète jusqu’au bout des ongles_ = He is a poet to his finger-tips.

_Je suis à bout de force_ = I am exhausted, done up.

_C’est le bout du monde_ = That is the utmost.

_Être au bout de son rouleau, de son latin, de sa gamme_ = To be at one’s wits’ end; Not to know what to do.

_Il répète la même chose à tout bout de champ_ = He repeats the same thing every instant, every time he has the chance.

_Eh bien! au bout du compte vous avez tort_ = Well! you are wrong, after all.

_Ma patience est à bout_ = My patience is exhausted.

_Il m’a poussé à bout_ = He provoked me beyond endurance.

_Laisser voir le bout de l’oreille_ = To show one’s ignorance (_or_, true character); To show what one is driving at; To show the cloven hoof.

[A reference to the fable of the ass in the lion’s skin.]

_Tenir le haut bout_ = To have the whip hand.

Boute-en-train

_C’est un vrai boute-en-train_ = He is the very life and soul of the party.

Bouteille

_Il n’a rien vu que par le trou d’une bouteille_ = He has seen nothing of the world.

_C’est la bouteille à l’encre que cette affaire_ = This is a very obscure matter; That affair is as clear as mud.

Boutique

_Toute la boutique_ (pop.) = The whole show (_i.e._ a thing and everything connected with it); The whole boiling; The whole bag of tricks.

[Also: _tout le tremblement_, and, _le diable et son train_.]

Braise

*_Tomber de la poêle dans la braise_ = To fall out of the frying-pan into the fire.

_Passer sur une chose comme un chat sur la braise_ = To pass lightly over a subject.

Branche

_Être comme l’oiseau sur la branche_ = To be very unsettled.

[This generally refers to a man’s position in life, whether he will stay where he is or be made to leave.]

Branler

*_Tout ce qui branle ne tombe pas_ = A creaking gate hangs long.

Bras

_Bras dessus bras dessous_ = Arm in arm.

_J’ai les bras rompus_ = My arms are tired.

_Cette perte nous coupe bras et jambes_ = This loss cripples us entirely.

_Les bras me tombent de surprise_ (or, _m’en tombent_) = I am struck dumb with surprise.

_Il a le bras long_ = He has great influence.

_Si vous lui en donnez long comme le doigt, il en prendra long comme le bras_ = Give him an inch, he will take an ell.

[“_Laissez leur prendre un pied chez vous Ils en auront bientôt pris quatre._” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, ii. 7.

German: Wer sich auf den Achseln sitzen lässt, dem sitzt man nachher auf dem Kopfe = Who lets one sit on his shoulders shall have him presently sit on his head.

Italian: Si ti lasci metter in spalla il vitello, quindi a poco ti metter an la vacca = If thou suffer a calf to be laid on thee, within a little they’ll clap on the cow.]

_Je l’ai saisi à bras le corps_ = I seized him round the waist (in a struggle).

_Je l’ai battu à tour de bras_ (or, _à bras raccourci_) = I beat him with all my might.

_Pourquoi restez-vous là les bras croisés?_ = Why are you waiting there doing nothing?

_J’ai ses enfants sur les bras_ = I have his children on my hands.

Brebis

*_A brebis tondue Dieu mesure le vent_ = God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb.

[Also: _Dieu donne le froid selon le drap._ This is said to occur first in a collection of proverbs made by Henri Estienne (Stephanus), 1594. The earliest mention in English is, I believe, in Sterne’s _Sentimental Journey_.]

*_Qui se fait brebis, le loup le mange_ = He who is too confiding is imposed upon; Daub yourself with honey and you’ll be covered with flies.

*_Brebis comptées le loup les mange_ = Counting one’s chickens will not keep the fox off; If you count your chickens, harm will happen to them.

[Compare VERGIL, _Ecl._, vii. 52. This somewhat difficult expression can also be translated: “A bold thief is not frightened at things being counted.” It no doubt refers to the old superstition that counting one’s possessions was followed by misfortune, as in 2 Samuel xxiv.]

*_Brebis qui bêle perd sa goulée_ = It is the silent sow that sucks the wash.

_La brebis galeuse_ = The black sheep.

_Il ne faut qu’une brebis galeuse pour infecter tout le troupeau_ = One scabby sheep will taint the whole flock; One ill weed mars a whole pot of pottage.

[Also: _Pomme pourrie gâte sa compagnie_ = One rotten apple spoils the whole basket.]

Bredouille

_Revenir bredouille_ = (of sportsmen) To return with an empty bag; To have made an unsuccessful attempt; To return disappointed.

_Se coucher bredouille_ = To go to bed supperless.

Bride

*_À cheval donné on ne regarde pas à la bride_ = One does not look a gift-horse in the mouth.

_Il courait à toute bride_ (or, _à bride abattue_) = He was running at full speed.

_Je lui ai mis la bride sur le cou_ = I gave him full liberty.

_Vous lui tenez la bride trop haute_ = You keep him too much under restraint.

Briller

*_Tout ce qui brille_ (or, _reluit_) _n’est pas or_ = All is not gold that glitters.

Brin

_Nous n’avons pas un brin de feu_ = We have not got a bit of fire.

_C’est un beau brin de fille_ = She is a fine slip of a girl.

Brisée

_Il court sur mes brisées_ = (lit.) He pursues the same game as I do; (fig.) He poaches on my preserves.

[_Brisées_ = small branches broken from trees and dropped on the ground to mark the lair or path of a beast.]

Briser

_Brisons là!_ = Let us have no more of that; That will do.

Brochette

_Être à la brochette_ = 1. To be brought up by hand (of a bird). 2. To be brought up tenderly, with too much care.

Broder

_Je crois que vous brodez_ = (fig.) I think you are exaggerating, romancing.

_Il brode bien_ = He is good at drawing the long bow.

Brouillard

_Établir une rente sur les brouillards de la Seine_ = To have an income in the clouds (_i.e._ nothing).

Brouiller

_Est-ce que vous vous êtes brouillés?_ = Are you no longer friends?

_Il a eu le malheur de se brouiller avec la justice_ = He was unfortunate enough to fall out with justice (_i.e._ to be punished by imprisonment, fine, etc.).

Brouter

*_Où la chèvre est attachée il faut qu’elle broute_ = One must bow to circumstances; One must put up with the inconveniences of one’s position if one can get nothing better; One must not expect more from life than life can give; We must take things as we find them.

[“Là où la chèvre est liée il faut bien qu’elle y broute.”--MOLIÈRE, _Le Médecin malgré lui_, iii. 3.]

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

Bruit

_Faire plus de bruit que de besogne_ = To be more fussy than industrious.

*_Grand bruit, petite besogne_ = The more hurry, the less speed; Great cry, little wool.

*_Qui a bruit de se lever matin peut dormir jusqu’au soir_ = A good reputation covers many sins.

_Les tonneaux vides sont ceux qui font le plus de bruit_ = The worst wheel makes the most noise.

Brûler

_Il s’est brûlé la cervelle_ = He blew his brains out.

_Ils tirèrent sur lui à brûle-pourpoint_ = They fired at him point-blank (so as to burn his doublet).

_Il m’a posé cette question à brûle-pourpoint_ = He asked me that question quite unexpectedly.

_Brûler une station (une étape)_ = To run through a station (_or_, a halting-place) without stopping.

_Brûler le pavé_ = To dash along at full speed, to “scorch.”

_Brûler à petit feu_ = To wait impatiently, to be on thorns.

_Cherchez bien, vous brûlez_ = Search well, you are getting warm.

[Said to children who are looking for a hidden object, and are getting near it.]

_Nous avons brûlé nos vaisseaux_ = There is no going back now; We mean to fight to the last.

[Agathocles, tyrant of Syracuse, on landing in Africa 317 B.C., burnt his vessels in order to force his soldiers to conquer or to die. William of Normandy (1066) and Cortez (1518) did the same.]

_Un acteur qui brûle les planches_ = An actor who plays with spirit, “go.”

_Brûler la politesse_ = To behave rudely by leaving a person abruptly.

Buisson

*_Il n’y a si petit buisson qui ne porte ombre_ = There is no man, however humble, who cannot aid (_or_, injure) his superior.

_Trouver buisson creux_ = To find the birds flown.

Buse

*_On ne saurait faire d’une buse un épervier_ = One cannot make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.

[“Que l’en ne puet fere espervier En nule guise d’ung busart.” GUILLAUME DE LORRIS, _Roman de la Rose_, 3839.

Also: _D’un goujat on ne peut pas faire un gentilhomme_ = It takes three generations to make a gentleman; and _D’un sac à charbon il ne saurait sortir blanche farine_.]

But

_De but en blanc_ = Point-blank; Abruptly.

C.

Ça

_Ça a sa petite volonté_ (fam.) = It has a will of its own (in speaking of children, etc.).

_C’est toujours ça_ = That is something, at any rate.

_Pas plus que ça?_; _Rien que ça?_ = Is that all?

[This is generally used ironically: _e.g._ Le cocher m’a demandé vingt francs pour aller de la Place de la Concorde à Longchamp!--Rien que ça?]

Cabinet

_Cet avocat a un bon cabinet_ = That barrister has a good practice.

Cachet

_Courir le cachet_ = To go from house to house giving private lessons.

[This expression comes from the custom of the master giving to the pupil a number of tickets (called _cachets_) at the first lesson, for which the pupil pays, and gives one back at the end of each lesson.]

Cadet

_C’est le cadet de mes soucis_ = That is the least of my cares; That is the last thing I worry about.

Cadran

_Il a fait le tour du cadran_ = 1. He has slept the clock round. 2. He has worked for twelve hours at a stretch.

Cage

*_La belle cage ne nourrit pas l’oiseau_ = Fine clothes do not fill the stomach.

Caisse

_Il tient la caisse_ = (lit.) He keeps the cash account; (fig.) He holds the purse-strings.

_Il fait la caisse_ = He is making up his cash account.

_Quel est l’état de votre caisse?_ = How much cash have you in hand?

Cale

_Être à fond de cale_ (fam.) = To be hard up, at the end of one’s resources.

[Also more pop.: _battre la dèche._ See _Sec_ and _Argent_.]

Campagne

_En rase_ (or, _pleine_) _campagne_ = In the open country.

_Battre la campagne._ (See _Battre_.)

_Se mettre en campagne_ = (lit., of a general) To take the field; (fig.) To canvass or look out for a post; To start working.

Camus

_Rendre un homme camus_ = To stop a man’s mouth; To make a man look small.

_Il demeura tout camus_ = He had not a word to say for himself; He was “stumped.”

Canard

_Cette nouvelle n’est qu’un canard_ = That story is all humbug.

[Canard is an absurd tale mocking the credulity of listeners. Littré derives the word from the phrase _vendre à quelqu’un un canard à moitié_ = to half sell a duck to any one, _i.e._ not to sell it at all, and so, to cheat. A _moitié_ was suppressed and _un canard_ came to mean a cheat, a sell. Many other explanations are given of this word.]

Cane

_Faire la cane_ = To run away; To show the white feather.

[This expression literally means to bob down, like a duck, to escape being shot. The verb _caner_ (= to funk) is more often used now, or the less familiar _caponner_. “To show the white feather” arises from the fact that white feathers in game-cocks show impurity of breed.]

Capable

_Il prend un air capable_ = He puts on a bumptious look.

_C’est un homme capable de tout_ = He is a man that would stick at nothing.

Cape

_Rire sous cape_ (or, _sous sa coiffe_) = To laugh in one’s sleeve (generally of women. See _Barbe_.)

_N’avoir que la cape et l’épée_ = To be titled but penniless (generally used of young officers who have nothing but their pay).

_Roman de cape et d’épée_ = A romantic, melodramatic tale (_e.g._ DUMAS, _Les Trois Mousquetaires_).

Caque

*_La caque sent toujours le hareng_ = What is bred in the bone will never come out of the flesh.

[“You may break, you may shatter the vase, if you will, But the scent of the roses will hang round it still.” MOORE, _Farewell_.]

Caractère

_Il a le caractère bien fait_ = He is always good-tempered.

_Il a le caractère mal fait_ = He cannot take a joke.

Carat

_C’est un sot à vingt-quatre carats_ = He is an out-and-out fool, an A 1 fool.

[“Enfin quoique ignorante à vingt et trois carats.” LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, vii, 15.]

Carême

*_Cela arrive comme mars en carême_ = That comes regularly, like clockwork.

*_Cela arrive comme marée en carême_ = That comes very seasonably, just at the right time.

_Une face de carême_ = A sad, pale, woe-begone face (like that of one who has fasted all Lent).

_Prêcher sept ans pour un carême_ = To do a great deal for little good.

Carpe

_Muet comme une carpe_ = As dumb as an oyster.

_Baîller comme une carpe_ = To yawn one’s head off.

_Elle fait la carpe pâmée_ (fam.) = She turns up the whites of her eyes; She pretends to be ill; She looks like a dying duck in a thunderstorm.

[Also: _Faire des yeux de merlan frit._]

Carré

_Une partie carrée_ = A party composed of two ladies and two gentlemen.

_C’est une tête carrée_ = He is an obstinate fellow.

Carreau

_C’est un valet de carreau_ = He is a contemptible fellow, a snob.

_Coucher sur le carreau_ = To sleep on the floor.

_Il l’a laissé sur le carreau_ = He killed him (_or_, left him for dead on the ground).

_Il est resté sur le carreau_ = He was killed on the spot, left for dead on the ground.

[Formerly the floors of rooms were paved with square tiles or bricks called _carreaux_. Kitchens are still so paved in France, and often ground-floor rooms in the country.]

Carte

_Battre les cartes_ = To shuffle the cards.

_Donner les cartes_ = To deal the cards.

_Brouiller les caries_ = (fig.) To sow discord.

_Elle lui a tiré les cartes_ = She told his fortune (by cards).

_Il a vu le dessous des cartes_ = He has been behind the scenes; he is in the secret, “in the know.”

_Jouer cartes sur table_ = To play openly; To act frankly.

_Donner carte blanche_ = To give full permission; To grant a person full liberty to act according to his judgment.

_Je connais la carte du pays_ = I know the country well.

_C’est un homme qui ne perd pas la carte_ = He is a man who keeps his wits about him, who has an eye to the main chance.

_C’est un château de cartes que cette maison_ = This is a jerry-built house.

Carton

_Rester dans les cartons_ = To be pigeon-holed.

_Des objets de carton_ = (fig.) Gimcrack things.

Cas

_C’est bien le cas de le dire_ = One may indeed say so.

_Il n’est pas dans le cas de vous nuire_ = He is not in a position to harm you.

_Le cas échéant_ = In such a case; If such should be the case.

_C’est le cas ou jamais_ = It is now or never.

_Nous en faisons grand cas_ = We value it very highly.

_Tout mauvais cas est niable_ = A man may be expected to deny a deed that he knows to be wrong.

_Un en-cas_ = Something prepared in case of need.

[Formerly this was said of a slight meal placed in a bedroom _in case_ one should wake in the night and need food. Now it rather refers to anything that can be used _in case_ guests arrive unexpectedly. Also of a parasol that can be used as an umbrella _in case_ it rains. The latter is more usually called _un en-tout-cas_.]

Casser

_Une noce à tout casser_ (pop.) = A rare old jollification.

_Vous me cassez la tête avec votre bruit_ = You split my head with your noise.

_Je ne me casse pas la tête avec_ (or, _pour_) _de telles bagatelles_ = I don’t worry my head (_or_, rack my brains) over such trifles.

_Il nous cassait l’encensoir sur le nez_ = He was smothering us with flatteries.

[To ‘incense’ any one would be to honour or praise him, but to break the censer against his nose would be overdoing it.]

_Les fatigues ont cassé cet homme_ = Hardships have broken that man down.

_J’ai cassé une croûte_ = I just had a snack.

_Cet homme casse les vitres_ = That man speaks out boldly, to bring matters to a crisis; That man does not pick and choose his words.

_On ne fait pas d’omelettes sans casser des œufs_ = Nothing is done without trouble and sacrifice.

[A saying attributed to Napoleon I. in defence of the great mortality caused by his wars.]

_Payer les pots cassés_ = To stand the racket.

_Se casser le nez_ = 1. To fall on one’s face. 2. To knock up against an obstacle. 3. To fail in an enterprise.

Cataplasme

_C’est comme un cataplasme sur une jambe de bois_ = A nod is as good as a wink to a blind horse.

Catholique

_Cet individu n’a pas l’air catholique_ = That man does not look very trustworthy.

_Votre vin est trop catholique_ = Your wine is too weak, (_i.e._ baptised with water).

Cause

_Il parle en connaissance de cause_ = He knows what he is talking about.

_Je ne veux pas y aller et pour cause_ = I do not want to go there, and for a very good reason.

_J’ai toujours pris fait et cause pour vous_ = I have always stood up for you, taken up the cudgels in your defence.

_Il a eu gain de cause_ = He gained the day.

_Un avocat sans cause_ = A briefless barrister.

_Vous êtes hors de cause_ = You are not concerned in the matter; This has nothing to do with you.

Caution

_Il est sujet à caution_ = He is not to be relied upon.

[_Caution_, meaning “bail,” implies that he cannot be trusted except on bail.]

Ce

_A ce que je vois_ = As far as I can judge.

_Ce que je sais, c’est que c’est un voleur_ = All I know is that he is a thief.

_Sur ce il s’en alla_ = After that he went away.

_Ce que c’est que de nous!_ = What poor mortals we are!

Ceinture

*_Bonne renommée vaut mieux que ceinture dorée_ = A good name is better than riches; He who has lost his reputation is a dead man among the living.

[_Ceinture_ here refers to the purse which was in, or attached to, the girdle. Compare Proverbs xxii. 1, “A good name is rather to be chosen than great riches,” and

“The purest treasure mortal times afford Is spotless reputation; that away, Men are but gilded loam or painted clay.” SHAKESPEARE, _Richard II._ i. 1.]

Cela

_C’est parler cela_ = That is what I call talking.

_C’est ceci, c’est cela_ = It is sometimes one thing, sometimes another.

_Pour ça, non!_ = Not a bit of it; Certainly not.

_Il est comme cela_ = That is his way.

_C’est bien comme cela!_ = That is just it!!

_C’est cela même!_ = That’s the very thing!

_Pour cela même_ = For that very reason.

_N’est-ce que cela?_ = Is that all?

Cent

_En un mot comme en cent_ = Once and for all.

_Je vous le donne en cent_ = I bet you 100 to 1 you will not guess it.

*_Cent ans bannière, cent ans civière_ = Up to-day, down to-morrow; Every dog has his day.

[_Bannière_ is here used as the mark of nobility. Also: _Aujourd’hui chevalier, demain vacher._ German: _Heute mir, morgen dir._ Latin: _Hodie mihi, cras tibi._]

_Cent ans de chagrin ne paient pas un sou de dettes_ = Worrying will not pay your debts.

Cervelle