Un chevalier d’industrie = A swindler, a man who lives by his wits.

Cette comparaison est tirée par les cheveux = That comparison is somewhat far-fetched.

On ne peut prendre aux cheveux un homme rasé = One cannot get blood from a stone. (See Huile.)

En cheveux (of a woman) = Bareheaded.

[Of a man: tête nue.]

Les cheveux en brosse = Hair cut short (standing up like the bristles of a brush).

Prendre l’occasion aux cheveux = To take time by the forelock. (See Balle.)

Avoir mal aux cheveux (fam.) = To have a head (i.e. a head-ache in the morning after a drinking bout.)

Vous ne lui allez pas à la cheville = You are a pigmy compared with him; You are no match for him at all.

La cheville ouvrière = The mainspring, pivot.

*Ménager la chèvre et le chou = To run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.

[The French refers to the tale of the man in charge of a wolf, a goat, and a cabbage. He came to a river which he had to cross; but the ferry-boat was so small that he could only take one of his charges with him. His difficulty was to get them across, for if he left the wolf and goat together, the wolf would eat the goat; and if he left the goat with the cabbage the goat would eat it.]

*Où la chèvre est attachée il faut qu’elle broute = One must put up with the inconveniences of one’s position if one can get nothing better; We must not expect more from life than life can give us.

C’est le chien de Jean de Nivelle, il s’enfuit quand on l’appelle = The more you call him, the more he runs away, like John de Nivelle’s dog.

[Jean de Nivelle was the eldest son of Jean II., Duc de Montmorency, and was born about 1423. Having been summoned to appear before the Judges at Paris for having espoused the cause of the Duke of Burgundy against the wishes of the king, Louis XI., and of his father, who disinherited him, he fled to Flanders, where his wife had property. He therefore became an object of scorn to the people for refusing to answer the summons of his king, and they called him chien: the saying ought to run: C’est CE chien de Jean de Nivelle. La Fontaine evidently thought the phrase referred to a real dog when he wrote:— “Une traîtresse voix bien souvent vous appelle,
Ne vous pressez donc nullement,
Ce n’était pas un sot, non, non et croyez m’en.
Que le chien de Jean de Nivelle.”
Compare the Italian:—
Far come il can d’Arlotto que chiamoto se la batte.]

*Qui veut noyer son chien l’accuse de la rage = Give your dog a bad name and hang him.

[Quos Jupiter vult perdere prius dementat.]

Je jette ma langue aux chiens = I give it up (of riddles, etc.).

[Also: Je donne ma langue aux chats.]

Nous sommes sortis entre chien et loup = We went out at dusk, between the lights.

[i.e. when you could easily mistake a wolf for a dog; or, as others say, between the time when the watch-dog is let loose and the time when the wolf comes out of the wood.]

Un chien regarde bien un évêque = A cat may look at a king.

Il fait un chien de temps (or, un temps de chien) (fam.) = It is wretched weather.

C’est saint Roch et son chien que ces deux personnes-là = These two persons are inseparable.

*Bon chien chasse de race = Like sire, like son; Cat after kind.

C’est le chien du jardinier qui ne mange pas de choux et n’en laisse pas manger aux autres = He is a dog in the manger.

Écorcher son chien pour en avoir la peau = To sacrifice something important for a small return.

Chien qui aboie ne mord pas = His bark is worse than his bite.

[Also: Tel fiert qui ne tue pas, and Chat miauleur ne fut jamais bon chasseur, non plus qu’homme sage caqueteur.]

Autant vaut être mordu d’un chien que d’une chienne = As well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb; What is the use of choosing between two evils?

On l’a reçu comme un chien dans un jeu de quilles = He was as welcome as a dog at a wedding.

*Il ne faut pas se moquer des chiens (or, du loup) avant qu’on ne soit hors du bois = Do not holloa before you are out of the wood.

Il n’attache pas ses chiens avec des saucisses = He is a regular miser.

Chien hargneux a toujours l’oreille déchirée = Quarrelsome folk are always in the wars.

Jamais bon chien n’a rongé bon os = A good dog rarely gets a good bone; Men rarely get their deserts.

Se regarder en chiens de faïence = To look at one another without talking (like stuck pigs).

Nous causions chiffons (of women) = We were chattering about dress.

Elle a une petite mine chiffonnée = She has irregular features, but her expression is pleasing.

On l’envoya planter ses choux = He was dismissed.

Aller planter ses choux (or, garder les dindons) = To retire into the country.

Chou pour chou = Taking one thing with another.

[The whole expression is: Chou pour chou, Aubervilliers vaut bien Paris = Aubervilliers is as good as Paris, if it come to counting cabbages, i.e., each thing has its particular merits. Aubervilliers is a suburb of Paris, noted for its market gardens.]

Bête comme (un) chou (un pot, une cruche, une oie) = As stupid as an owl.

Mon petit chou = My little darling.

[This has nothing to do with a cabbage, but with a kind of puff pastry filled with cream, in the shape of a cabbage.]

Faire ses choux gras d’une chose = To enjoy a thing that others despise.

Remuer ciel et terre = To move heaven and earth; To leave no stone unturned.

Circulez, Messieurs! = Move on, please! (cry of policemen).

Parler clair et net = To speak plainly.

Je n’y vois pas clair = I cannot see, it is too dark.

Clair comme le jour (or, comme le soleil en plein midi) = As plain as a pikestaff; As clear as noonday.

À la rentrée des classes = When school reopens.

Mettre la clef sous la porte = To run away from one’s creditors; “To bolt.”

La clef dont on se sert est toujours claire = One does not get rusty in what one does every day.

Un pas de clerc = A blunder; A false step.

Il ne faut pas parler latin devant les clercs = Do not correct a specialist on his subject.

[“Les plus grands clercs ne sont pas les plus fins.”
Régnier, Satires, iii.]

Ses plaisanteries ne sont que des clichés = His jokes are stereotyped.

En un clin d’œil = In a twinkling.

Il n’a jamais perdu son clocher de vue = He has never been out of his parish.

Il faut placer le clocher au milieu du village = What is meant for the benefit of all should be within reach of all.

[e.g. a lamp in the middle of the table.]

Avoir la maladie du clocher = To be homesick.

[Also more often: Avoir le mal du pays.]

À contre cœur = Reluctantly.

À cœur joie = To one’s heart’s content.

De gaieté de cœur = Out of sheer wantonness.

Il l’a fait de bon cœur = He did it willingly.

Dîner par cœur = To go without a dinner; To dine with Duke Humphrey.

[Humphrey, Duke of Gloucester, son of Henry IV., was renowned for his hospitality. At his death it was reported that he would have a monument in S. Paul’s, but he was buried at S. Alban’s Abbey. S. Paul’s was at that time the common lounge of the town, and when the promenaders left for dinner, those who had no dinner to go to, used to say they would stay behind and look for the monument of the Good Duke. A similar saying was, “To sup with Sir Thomas Gresham,” the Exchange, built by him, being a place of resort.]

Vous l’avez blessé au cœur = You have wounded his feelings.

C’est un crève cœur = It is a heart-rending thing.

*Loin des yeux, loin du cœur = Out of sight, out of mind.

Il a cela à cœur = 1. He is striving hard to do it. 2. He takes a lively interest in it.

Cela me tient au cœur = I have set my heart upon it.

Il a mal au cœur = He is feeling sick.

Il a une maladie de cœur = He has heart disease.

Elle fait la bouche en cœur = She puts on a captivating look; She purses up her lips.

Elle a le cœur gros = She is ready to cry; She is heavy-hearted.

Si le cœur vous en dit = If you feel like it; If you have a mind to.

Je veux en avoir le cœur net = I must clear that up.

Il a le cœur sur les lèvres = 1. He always says what he thinks (and this is always something good and kind); He is open-hearted. 2. He feels sick.

Être plein de cœur = To be full of generosity; To be noble-minded; To have a high sense of one’s duties towards others.

Avoir le cœur sur la main = To be open-hearted, frank.

Un serrement de cœur = A sinking at the heart; A feeling of oppression and sadness.

Voilà l’homme dont elle est coiffée = There is the man with whom she is smitten.

Être né coiffé = To be born with a silver spoon in one’s mouth (literally, with a caul).

Coiffer sainte Catherine = To remain an old maid.

Cet homme mourra au coin d’un bois (or, d’une haie) = That man will die in a ditch.

Il est franc du collier = (of a horse) He pulls freely; (of a man) He never shirks his work.

Reprendre le collier de misère = To return to drudgery, to the old routine.

Le feu détruisit le bâtiment de fond en comble = The fire completely gutted the building.

Elle est au comble de ses désirs = She is at the very height of her wishes.

Pour comble de malheur, il tomba malade = To crown his misfortune, he fell ill.

Venez demain, nous serons en petit comité = Come to-morrow, there will be only a few intimate friends.

Comme ci, comme ça = So-so; indifferently.

Je ne l’ai pas dit, mais c’est tout comme = I did not say so, but it is just as if I did.

C’est tout comme = It comes to the same thing.

*N’a pas fait qui commence = The beginning is not everything.

[“Qui commence le mieux ne fait rien s’il n’achève.”
Corneille.]

A moitié fait qui commence bien = Well begun is half done; A good beginning is half the battle.

[“Unes vespres bien sonnées sont à demy dictes.”
Rabelais, Gargantua, cxl.

Also: Matines bien sonnées sont à moitié dites.

Barbe bien savonnée est à moitié rasée.]

*Qui commence mal finit mal = A bad day never has a good night.

Le patron n’est pas commode (fam.) = The master (boss) knows all our tricks, is not easily taken in, is very strict, is not an easy customer to deal with.

Il m’a faussé compagnie = He gave me the slip; He did not keep his appointment.

Vous me traitez comme si j’étais compagnie = You treat me as if I were somebody.

Il n’y a si bonne compagnie qui ne se quitte = The best of friends must part.

Traiter quelqu’un de pair à compagnon = To treat any one as an equal; To be “hail-fellow-well-met” (cheek by jowl) with any one.

*Qui a compagnon a maître = One is often obliged to give way to the wishes of those with whom one is associated.

Avoir le compas dans l’œil (fam.) = To have a good eye for distances.

C’est un rusé compère = He is a sly dog, a cunning old fox. (See Fin and Mouche.)

[Other equivalents are: un fin (or, fûté) matois (vide Molière, George Dandin, i. 2, ad fin.), une fine mouche.]

Sans compliment = Really; sincerely; I mean really what I say.

Voici votre argent, voyez si vous avez votre compte = Here is your money, see if it is right.

Erreur n’est pas compte = Errors excepted.

Je renonce à ce commerce, car je n’y trouve pas mon compte = I am giving up this business, for I make nothing by it.

Ne l’offensez pas, car vous n’y trouverez pas votre compte = Do not offend him, for you would get more than you cared for.

Nous nous amusons à bon compte = We amuse ourselves at a small cost.

Vous êtes loin du compte = You are out in your reckoning.

On peut toujours à bon compte revenir = There is no harm in examining an account twice.

Je mets cela en ligne de compte = I take that into account.

Faisons un compte rond = Let us make it even money.

Pour se rendre compte de la chose = To get a clear idea of the matter.

Nous sommes de compte à demi dans l’entreprise = We are partners on equal terms in the venture; We are going halves in the venture.

À chacun son compte = To give every one his due.

Au bout du compte = Upon the whole; After all.

Enfin de compte = (lit.) When the addition is made; (fig.) When all is told; When all is said and done.

Il a son compte (or, Son compte est réglé) = 1. (lit.) He has his due. 2. (pop.) He is done for. (See Affaire.)

Il lui compte les morceaux = He grudges him the very food he eats.

*Qui compte sans son hôte compte deux fois = He who reckons without his host must reckon again; Don’t count your chickens before they are hatched. (See Chômer and Peau.)

Comptez dessus = Depend upon it.

Vous pouvez faire des commandes en mon nom jusqu’à concurrence de 5,000 francs = You can order goods in my name to the amount of £200.

Il conduit bien sa barque = (fig.) He plays his cards well.

Tous ses camarades lui firent la conduite = All his companions saw him off.

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

On lui donnerait le bon Dieu sans confession = They would trust him to any extent (because of his saintly appearance).

En connaissance de cause = Knowingly.

Je suis en pays de connaissance = I am among people I know, among old friends.

Il est connu comme le loup blanc = He is known to everybody.

Il gagne à être connu = He improves upon acquaintance.

Je ne le connais ni d’Ève ni d’Adam = I do not know him from Adam.

Je ne le connais ni de près ni de loin = I do not know him at all.

En chiffres connus = In plain figures.

Vous y connaissez-vous en vins? = Are you a judge of wine?

Je m’y connais = I understand all about it; I am an authority on it.

Connu! (fam.) = That is an old tale.

Je la connais, celle-là (pop.) = That is nothing new; I’ve been “had” before.

*À parti pris pas de conseil = Advice is useless to one who has made up his mind.

*La nuit porte conseil = Sleep upon it; Time will show a plan.

Il a bientôt assemblé son conseil = He makes up his mind without consulting any one.

“Aimez qu’on vous conseille et non pas qu’on vous loue” = Prefer advice to praise.

[Boileau, Art Poétique, i. 192.]

*Qui ne dit mot consent = Silence gives consent.

Cela ne tire pas à conséquence = That is of no importance.

Des contes à dormir debout = Tedious, nonsensical tales; Old wives’ tales.

*Contentement passe richesse = Enough is as good as a feast.

Il vous en conte de belles = He is deceiving you finely; He is telling you fine tales.

Vous êtes porté sur le contrôle = Your name is placed on the roll.

Une chaîne contrôlée = A hall-marked chain.

Vous prêchez un converti = You are talking to a man who thinks with you.

Il est comme un coq en pâte = He is in clover.

[Lit. one kept separately from the others to be fattened; pâte is its food. Comme rats en paille is sometimes used.]

Il est le coq du village = He is the cock of the walk.

Des coq-à-l’âne = Cock and bull stories; Disconnected rigmaroles.

À qui vendez-vous vos coquilles? = Tell that to the marines. (See Autre.)

[Charles d’Orléans, Rondeau, 148.]

Rentrer dans sa coquille = To draw in one’s horns.

Il fait bien valoir ses coquilles = He praises his goods too much.

À cor et à cri = With hue and cry; Vehemently.

Demander à cor et à cri = To clamour for.

Être au bout de sa corde (or, son rouleau) = To be at the end of one’s tether; To have no more to say.

Vous verrez beau jeu si la corde ne rompt = You will see fine fun if no accident happens, if no hitch occurs.

Cette affaire a passé à fleur de corde = That business only just succeeded.

Cet homme file sa corde = That man will bring himself to the gallows.

Il ne faut pas parler de corde dans la maison d’un pendu = We must not make personal remarks; We must not allude to the skeleton in the cupboard. (See Boiteux.)

Il a de la corde de pendu dans sa poche = He has the devil’s own luck.

[A piece of the rope with which a man had been hanged was, and is even now, considered as a charm against ill-luck. Archbishop Trench adduces other proverbs in reference to the man whose luck never forsakes him, so that from the very things which would be another man’s ruin, he extricates himself not only without harm but with credit: e.g. the Arabic: “Cast him into the Nile, and he will come up with a fish in his mouth”; the German: “Würf er einen Groschen aufs Dach, fiel ihm ein Taler herunter” = If he threw a penny on to the roof, a dollar would come back to him.]

Il tient la corde = He is leading; He is first favourite.

Vous touchez la corde sensible = You are touching the sore point.

Ne touchez pas cette corde = (fig.) Do not speak of that.

Cela est usé jusqu’à la corde = (lit.) That is worn threadbare; (fig.) That is thoroughly hackneyed.

Aux États-Unis les rues sont tirées au cordeau = In the United States the streets are perfectly straight.

Cordon, s’il vous plaît = Open the door, please (to porters in Paris).

Ne faites pas de cornes à ce livre = Do not dog’s-ear that book.

Bayer aux corneilles = To stare (or, gape) about vacantly.

C’est un drôle de corps = He is an odd fellow, a queer fish.

Nous verrons ce qu’il a dans le corps = We will see what he is made of.

Il s’est jeté à corps perdu dans cette affaire = He threw himself headlong (or, with might and main) into the matter.

Je le saisis à bras le corps = I seized him round the waist (in a struggle).

Ils se sont battus corps à corps = They fought hand to hand.

Je l’ai fait à mon corps défendant = I did it reluctantly, in self-defence.

Prendre du corps = To get fat.

Il a l’âme chevillée dans le corps = He has as many lives as a cat.

*À corsaire, corsaire et demi = Set a thief to catch a thief.

[“Ars deluditur arte.”—Cato.

“A trompeur, trompeur et demy.”—Charles d’Orléans, Rondel, 46.]

*Corsaires contre corsaires ne font pas leurs affaires = Dog does not eat dog. (See Loup.)

[“Corsaires contre corsaires,
L’un l’autre s’attaquant ne font pas leurs affaires.”— La Fontaine, Tribut envoyé par les animaux à Alexandre, imitating Régnier, Satire xii., ad fin., who took it from the Spanish De corsario a corsario no se llevan que los barriles.]

C’est une vraie corvée! = What a nuisance! What a bore!

[Corvée originally referred to feudal forced labour. It is now a military term, and means “fatigue duty”; hence, any unpleasant task.]

On lui compterait les côtes = He is nothing but skin and bone.

Être sur le côté (or, flanc) = To be on one’s back, ill.

Mettre les rieurs de son côté = To turn the laugh against a man.

Vous êtes du bon côté = You are on the right side.

Vous êtes du côté du manche = You are on the winning side.

Donner à côté = To miss the mark.

Depuis sa faillite il file un mauvais coton (fam.) = Since his failure, his health (or, reputation) has entirely broken down.

On est plus couché que debout = Life is short compared with eternity.

Je l’ai couché en joue = I aimed at him.

Coucher dans son fourreau = To go to sleep without undressing; To turn in all standing (nav.).

*Comme on fait son lit, on se couche = As you make your bed, so you must lie on it.

Se coucher comme les poules = To go to bed with the sun, very early.

Coucher sur la dure = To lie on the ground, on the floor.

Il ne se mouche pas du coude (fam.) = 1. He is no fool. 2. He does things in grand style. (See Pied.)

Il a mal au coude (fam.) = He is very lazy. (See Main.)

Avoir les coudées franches = (lit.) To have elbow-room; (fig.) To have full scope.

On ne sait quelle pièce y coudre = One does not know how to prevent (or, cure) it.

C’est un homme à la coule (pop.) = He is a smart, knowing chap.

[Compare: Il la connaît dans les coins, celui-là = He knows his business in every corner.]

Ce qu’il dit coule de source = What he says comes from the heart, comes fluently from his lips.

Cela coule de source = That follows naturally.

Couler à fond = (of ships) To founder; (of persons) To be ruined.

*Il faut laisser couler l’eau = What can’t be cured must be endured.

Faire les yeux en coulisse = To make sheep’s eyes; To ogle.

*Faire d’une pierre deux coups = To kill two birds with one stone.

Cette démarche a porté coup = That step told, had its effect.

Sans coup férir = Without striking a blow.

Il a fait un bon coup = He has made a good bargain.

Il vient de faire un mauvais coup = He has just committed a crime.

Pour le coup il ne m’échappera pas = This time he will not escape me.

J’irai à coup sûr = I shall go to a certainty.

C’est donner un coup d’épée dans l’eau = It is an unsuccessful attempt. (See Eau.)

Il m’a porté un coup fourré = He struck me a blow in the dark.

[This is a term derived from fencing; un coup fourré is a blow struck at an adversary at the same moment that he strikes.]

Le coup vaut la balle = It is worth trying.

Il faut toujours qu’elle donne son coup de patte = She always makes sarcastic (or, unpleasant) remarks.

C’est un coup monté = It is a pre-arranged affair.

On lui a monté le coup = They induced him to do it; They deceived him.

Il a bu un coup de trop = He has had a drop too much.

C’est venu après coup = It came too late, after the event.

Faire les cent coups = To amuse oneself noisily; To play all sorts of tricks.

Être aux cent coups = To be half mad (distracted) with anxiety; To be in the greatest difficulties.

C’est un coup qui porte = That is a home-thrust.

Avoir un coup de marteau = To be a little touched.

J’ai écrit trois lettres coup sur coup = I wrote three letters one after the other.

Un coup de sang = A rush of blood to the head.

Un coup de Jarnac = A treacherous blow; A blow below the belt.

[In a duel before the whole Court in 1547, Gui Chabot, Seigneur de Jarnac, wounded his adversary, La Châtaigneraie, with an unfair stroke. La Châtaigneraie refused to survive such an affront, tore off the bandages placed over his wound, and bled to death.]

Un coup de fouet = (lit.) A crack of a whip; (fig.) A sudden contraction of the muscles of the leg (or back).

Un coup d’état = A sudden, unexpected act of policy; A violent change in the Government (e.g. 18 brumaire 1799, or 2 décembre 1851).

Un coup de fion (fam.) = A finishing touch.

Donner le coup de grâce = To give the finishing stroke.

Il gagna mille francs tout d’un coup = He won £40 at one shot, all at once, at one “go.”

Il s’en alla tout à coup = He went away suddenly, abruptly.

[Tout d’un coup and tout à coup are frequently used indiscriminately, even by French people.]

Un coup de tête = A moment of passion; a rash action.

Donner un coup de main = To give a helping hand.

J’ai manqué mon coup = I missed my shot; I failed.

Ils l’ont moulu de coups = They beat him black and blue.

[A well-known quotation from Corneille runs: “Mes pareils à deux fois ne se font pas connaître
Et pour leurs coups d’essai veulent des coups de maître.”—Le Cid, ii. 2.]

*Il y a loin de la coupe aux lèvres = There is many a slip ’twixt the cup and the lip.

[The Greek πολλὰ μεταξὺ πέλει κύλικος καὶ χείλεος ἄκρου is said to have had its origin in the following circumstances:—Anceaus, an ancient King of Samos, treated with extreme cruelty his slaves who were planting a vineyard for him; until at length one more ill-used than the rest prophesied that for his cruelty he should never drink of its wine. When the first vintage was over the master bade this slave fill him a goblet, and, taking it in his hands, he taunted him with the failure of his prophecy. The slave answered with these words; and as he was speaking news was brought of a huge wild boar that was wasting the vineyard. Setting down the untasted cup and snatching up a spear the master went out to meet the wild boar and was slain in the encounter. Compare the Latin: Inter calicem et os multa cadunt; and the Spanish: De la mano a la boca se pierde la sopa.

Other variants in French are: Entre la bouche et le verre
Le vin souvent tombe à terre.
Vin versé n’est pas avalé.
En amour, en cour, et à la chasse.
Chacun ne prend ce qu’il pourchasse.]

Mettre en coupe réglée = (lit.) To cut down periodically (of forests); (fig.) To lay regularly under contribution.