French Idioms and Proverbs / A Companion to Deshumbert's "Dictionary of Difficulties"

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

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

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

Il ne sait sur quel pied danser = He does not know which way to turn.

Il en dansera en l’air = He will swing for it.

Danser devant le buffet = To have nothing to eat.

Cet événement date de loin = That event happened long ago.

A vous le dé = It is your turn to play (at dice). [See Avoir.]

Ne nous flattez pas le dé = Speak out without any reserve.

[Flatter le dé is to let the dice slide gently out of the box.]

“Car madame à jaser tient le dé tout le jour” = Madame engrosses the conversation all day long.

[Molière, Tartufe, i. 1.]

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

Fuir à la débandade = To fly helter-skelter.

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

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

*Mieux vaut goujat debout qu’empereur enterré = “A living dog is better than a dead lion.”—Ecclesiastes ix. 4.

[La Fontaine, La Matrone d’Éphèse. Goujat first meant a soldier’s servant (as here), now it means a hodman, or bricklayer’s apprentice, hence a vulgar, coarse fellow, a bungler.]

Cela ne tient pas debout = That won’t hold water.

Il a écrit vingt pages sans débrider = He has written twenty pages at a stretch.

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

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

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

On a découvert le pot aux roses = They have discovered the mystery, the secret.

Être à découvert = To be unprotected, undisguised.

Un décrochez-moi-ça (pop.) = A reach-me-down (second-hand garment).

Elle est tout en dedans = She is not communicative.

On l’a mis dedans (fam.) = 1. They took him in (i.e. they deceived him). 2. They ran him in (i.e. they put him in prison).

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

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

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

Il a le visage défait = He has a pale, worn-out look.

Cette marchandise est d’une bonne défaite = These goods have a quick sale.

Attaquez-le au défaut de la cuirasse = Attack him on his weak point.

Défense d’afficher = Stick no bills.

Défense d’entrer = No admittance.

Défense d’entrer sous peine d’amende = Trespassers will be prosecuted.

Être brave jusqu’au dégainer = To be brave until it come to blows.

[Dégainer = to unsheathe a sword.]

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

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

Faire le dégoûté = To be fastidious, dainty.

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

Sauver le dehors = To save appearances.

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

En flagrant délit = In the very act; red-handed.

[Lat. In flagrante delicto.]

Déloger sans tambour ni trompette = To leave without beat of drum.

Avec lui c’est toujours demain = He always procrastinates.

*A beau demandeur beau refuseur = Diamond cut diamond.

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

La langue lui démange = He longs to speak; He is dying to put in a word.

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

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

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

Je suis sur les dents = I am done up.

J’ai une dent contre lui = I have a grudge against him.

[Also: Je lui garde un chien de ma chienne (pop.).]

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

Manger du bout des dents = To eat without an appetite; To eat daintily.

[“Dente superbo.”—Horace, Satires, ii. 6, 87. Compare: rire du bout des dents.]

Déchirer quelqu’un à belles dents = To tear a person’s reputation to shreds.

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

*Les folles dépenses refroidissent la cuisine = Wilful waste makes woeful want.

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

[Sometimes shortened to: Ne vous déplaise, as in La Fontaine, Fables, i. 1. The sense is often ironical, and means, “whether you like it or not.”]

Au dépourvu = Unprepared.

Courir comme un dératé = To go like a shot; To run like mad.

[Rate=spleen. The Greeks believed that men and animals ran faster if their spleen was removed. “On sait que l’extirpation de la rate se pratiquait chez les coureurs d’antiquité pour éviter l’essoufflement.”—Couvreur, Les Merveilles du Corps humain. Comp. Pliny, xxvi. 13.]

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

[“Ce que vous dites là est du dernier bourgeois.”
Molière, Les Précieuses Ridicules, sc. 5.]

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

Cela laisse à désirer = There is room for improvement.

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

Je n’ai pas desserré les dents = I never opened my lips.

Par dessus le marché = Into the bargain; Over and above.

Il n’y a rien au dessus de cela = That beats everything.

Sens dessus dessous = All upside down; Topsy-turvy.

Ils ont eu le dessus = They got the best of it.

[Avoir le dessous = to get the worst of it.]

Prendre le dessus = To gain the upper hand.

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

Il le fera par dessus l’épaule = He will never do it.

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

Il m’a regardé par dessus l’épaule = He looked at me contemptuously.

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

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

Il a l’air d’un déterré = He looks as pale as death, as pale as a ghost.

Faire un détour = To go a roundabout way.

Il est sans détour = He is straightforward.

Il est criblé de dettes = He is head over ears in debt.

[For criblé one finds accablé, perdu, or abîmé.]

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

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

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

*Deux s’amusent, trois s’embêtent (fam.) = Two’s company, three’s none.

Tous les deux jours; De deux jours l’un = Every other day.

Piquer des deux = To spur on one’s horse; To rush forward.

*Les premiers vont devant = First come, first served.

Il faut prendre les devants = One must be first in the field.

Allons au-devant de lui = Let us go and meet him.

Mathurin dévide le jars (pop.) = Jack Tar is spinning a yarn.

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

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

*Qui a terme ne doit rien = No one need pay before a debt is due.

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

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

*Fais ce que dois, advienne que pourra = Do your duty, come what may.

Dussé-je en mourir = Were I to die for it.

Chose convenue, chose due = A promise must be kept.

J’ai jeté mon dévolu sur cela = I have fixed my choice upon that.

Il n’est de dévotion que de jeune prêtre = Enthusiasm wears out in time; New brooms sweep clean. (See Balai.)

Faire le diable à quatre = To make a terrible noise; To play all sorts of tricks. (See Quatre.)

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

C’est le diable à confesser = It is terribly hard to do.

Il a le diable au corps = He is never still, quite unmanageable, very energetic.

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

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

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

Se démener comme un diable dans un bénitier = To rush about half-mad.

Loger le diable dans sa bourse = To be penniless. (See Bourse.)

[“Et logeant le diable en sa bourse,
C’est à dire, n’y logeant rien.”
La Fontaine, Fables, ix. 16.]

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

[Compare the Italian:

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

Also: The river past and God forgotten.]

Aller au diable Vauvert (corrupted into au vert) = To go very far away, a devil of a way; To disappear.

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

C’est là le diable (or, le hic) = There is the rub.

Elle a la beauté du diable = All her beauty consists in her youth and freshness.

Fait à la diable (i.e. à la manière du diable) = Done anyhow, in a slipshod way.

À Dieu ne plaise! = God forbid!

Jurer ses grands dieux = To affirm vehemently; To swear by all that one holds sacred.

*Ce qui est différé n’est pas perdu = All is not lost that is delayed.

[German: Aufgeschoben ist nicht aufgehoben.]

Voyager par la diligence d’Adam = To travel on shanks’ nag.

[German: Auf Schusters Rappen.]

C’est un franc dindon = He is a thorough goose.

Être le dindon de la farce = To be the dupe.

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

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

Pour mieux dire = Or rather.

Je me le suis tenu pour dit = I took it for granted.

Soit dit entre nous = Quite between ourselves.

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

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

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

Quand je vous le disais! (or, Je vous l’avais bien dit!) = I told you so!

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

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

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

Au dire de tout le monde = According to what everybody says; According to the general opinion.

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

[Comp. Racine, Épigramme III. Sur Andromaque.]

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

On nous donna du vin à discrétion = They gave us as much wine as we wanted (wine ad libitum).

La distance grandit tout prestige =
“’Tis distance lends enchantment to the view,
And robes the mountain in its azure hue.”
[Campbell, Pleasures of Hope, i. 7.]

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

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

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

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

Mon petit doigt me l’a dit = A little bird told me so.

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

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

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

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

Un doigt de vin (fam.) = A toothful of wine.

C’est dommage! = What a pity.

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

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

*Qui donne tôt donne deux fois = He gives twice who gives in a trice.

[“Bis dat qui celeriter dat.”—Publius Syrus. Cito, which is now used instead of celeriter, appears to be a later alteration.]

Le régiment a donné = The regiment has engaged.

On ne lui donnerait pas quarante ans = You would not take him for forty.

On t’en donnera des tabliers propres pour les salir = You ask too much.

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

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

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

Dormir comme une marmotte, comme un sabot, comme une souche, les (or, à) poings fermés = To sleep like a top, like a log.

Dormir la grasse matinée = To lie late in bed.

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

[“Γραῶν ὕθλος.”—Plato, Rep. 350 E.

“Aniles fabellae.”—Cicero.]

*Qui dort dîne = Sleeping is as good as eating.

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

Dormir en gendarme = To sleep with one eye open.

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

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

Il fait le gros dos = He gives himself airs.

En dos d’âne = Sloping on both sides, sharp-ridged.

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

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

Il a bon dos = His back is broad enough to stand a good deal.

C’est un double coquin = He is a thorough rascal.

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

*Plus fait douceur que violence = Kindness does more than harshness; More flies are caught with honey than with vinegar.

[La Fontaine, Fables, vi. 3.]

Il faudra le prendre en douceur = You must tackle him gently.

Cela ne fait aucun doute = There is no doubt about it.

Dans le doute abstiens-toi = When in doubt, do nothing.