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
_Le scélérat se brûla la cervelle_ = The scoundrel blew his
brains out.
[Also, more pop., “se faire sauter le caisson.”]
Chacun
*_A la cour du roi chacun pour soi_ = Every man for himself and
the devil take the hindmost. (See _Sauver_.)
_Chacun cherche son semblable_ = Like will to like. (See _Pot_
and _Tel_.)
[“Entre gens de même nature
L’amitié se fait et dure
Mais entre gens de contraire nature
Ni amour ni amitié dure.”]
Chair
_Cela fait venir la chair de poule_ = That makes one’s flesh
creep.
_Je l’ai vu en chair et en os_ = I saw him in flesh and blood.
_Ni chair ni poisson_ = Neither fish, flesh, nor fowl.
Chaise
_Être assis entre deux chaises_ = To fall between two stools.
(See _Chasser_.)
Chambre
_Il y a bien des chambres à louer dans sa tête_ = He is an
empty-headed fellow.
Chameau
_Rejeter le moucheron et avaler le chameau_ = To strain at a gnat
and swallow a camel.
Champ
_Il est fou à courir les champs_ = He is as mad as a March hare.
_Nous prendrons la clef des champs_ = We shall take the key of
the street (_i.e._, run away).
_Un rien le met aux champs_ = A trifle throws him into a passion,
bewilders him.
_Être aux champs_ = To be put out, bewildered, angry.
_Prendre du champ_ = To take a run (before leap); To have room
before one (for an effort).
[“Ils prirent du champ et coururent l’un sur l’autre avec
furie.”--CHATEAUBRIAND, _Dernier des Abencérages_, 185.]
Chance
_Chance vaut mieux que bien jouer_ = Luck is better than wit or
brains.
_Il n’est chance qui ne retourne_ = The luck must change.
Chandelle
*_A chaque saint sa chandelle_ = Honour to whom honour is due;
Every lawyer must have his fee.
_Il vous doit une belle chandelle_ = He ought to be very grateful
to you.
[An allusion to the custom of burning candles before the altars
of Saints, as a mark of gratitude, considered due to them.]
_Voir des chandelles_ (or, _mille chandelles_) = “To see stars.”
(See _Étoile_.)
_Donner une chandelle à Dieu et une au diable_ = To try and keep
in with both parties.
_Le jeu ne vaut pas la chandelle_ = The game is not worth the
candle; It is not worth while.
[_i.e._, when the stakes are not sufficient to pay for the candle
burnt during the game.]
*_C’est une économie de bouts de chandelle_ = That is penny-wise
and pound-foolish; That is spoiling the ship for a ha’porth
(halfpennyworth) of tar; That is a cheese-paring policy.
_Brûler la chandelle par les deux bouts_ = To burn the candle at
both ends.
Change
_Donner le change_ = To put off the scent, to mislead.
_Vous ne me ferez pas prendre le change_ = You will not impose
upon me, put me on the wrong scent.
[Expressions taken from hunting, where the dogs leave the track
of the game they have raised, to run on another scent.]
_Je lui ai rendu le change_ = I paid him back in his own coin.
(See _Monnaie_.)
Changer
_Changer son cheval borgne contre un aveugle_ = To lose in an
exchange.
Chanson
_Il en a l’air et la chanson_ = He looks it every inch; He has
both the appearance and the actuality.
_C’est l’air qui fait la chanson_ = Words depend much on the tone
in which they are spoken; It is not so much what you say as the
way in which you say it.
Chanter
*_Il chante toujours la même chanson_ = He is always harping on
the same string.
[“Cantilenam eandem canere.”
TERENCE, _Phormio_, iii. 2, 10.
“Chorda qui semper oberrat eadem.”
HORACE, _Ars Poet._, 356.]
*_Tel chante qui ne rit pas_ = The heart may be sad though the
face be gay.
_C’est comme si je chantais_ = It is like talking to the air,
preaching in the desert.
_Je lui ai chanté sa gamme_ = I lectured him severely.
_Une porte mal graissée chante_ = One must pay well to keep
persons quiet.
_Elle chante à faire pitié_ = She sings most wretchedly.
_Chanter juste_ = To sing in tune.
_Si ça vous chante_ (fam.) = If you are in the mood for it.
Chapeau
_Voici la reine, chapeau bas!_ = Here is the Queen, hats off.
Chapelet
_Le chapelet commence à se défiler_ = The association is
beginning to break up.
_Défiler_ (or, _dire_) _son chapelet_ = To say all one has to say.
_Il n’a pas gagné cela en disant son chapelet_ = He did not get
that for nothing.
Chapon
*_Qui chapon mange, chapon lui vient_ = He that has plenty shall
have more.
Charbonnier
*_Charbonnier est maître chez lui_ (or, _chez soi_) = Every one
is master in his own house; An Englishman’s house is his castle.
[In the _Commentaires de Blaise de Monluc, Maréchal de France_
(ed. _Alphonse de Ruble, pour la Société de l’Histoire de
France_, tome iii. p. 482, Paris, 1867), in a remonstrance to the
king he says: “car chacun est roy en sa maison, comme respondit
le charbonnier à votre ayeul.” M. de Ruble appends this note:
“François I^{er}, à la suite d’une chasse qui l’avait séparé de
sa suite, se perdit dans une forêt et chercha un asile dans la
cabane d’un charbonnier. L’homme était absent; le roi ne trouva
que la charbonnière, s’empara du meilleur siège et demanda à
souper. La femme voulut attendre l’arrivée de son mari. A son
retour, celui-ci reprit brusquement son siège et offrit un simple
escabeau au roi: ‘Je prendz cette chaise,’ dit-il, ‘parce qu’elle
est à moi:
Or, par droit et par raison,
Chacun est maître en sa maison.’
Le roi, charmé de n’être point reconnu, obéit à son hôte. On
soupa d’un quartier de chevreuil tué en cachette, on médit
du roi, des tailles qu’il venait d’ordonner et surtout de sa
sévérité pour la chasse. Le lendemain, François se fit connaître.
Le charbonnier se crut perdu, mais le roi le rassura, et, pour
prix de son hospitalité, lui accorda de grandes faveurs, entre
autres le droit de chasser. A son retour à la cour, il rapporta
le récit de son aventure et surtout le proverbe qu’il venait
d’apprendre.” Also in _La Belle Arsène, comédie-féerie de C. S.
Favart_, acted before the king in 1773, we find this proverb (Act
iv. Sc. 2).]
Charge
_Cela est à ma charge_ = I have to pay for it; That falls on me.
_Cela m’est à charge_ = That is a burden to me.
_C’est entendu, à la charge d’autant_ (or, _de revanche_) = I
will do the same for you; One good turn deserves another.
Charité
*_Charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même_ = Charity begins
at home.
[“Proximus sum egomet mihi.” = I myself am nearest to
myself.--TERENCE.]
_La charité, s’il vous plaît!_ = Please give me a penny!
Charlemagne
_Faire Charlemagne_ = To leave off a winner, without giving one’s
adversaries a chance of revenge.
[Génin explains this as a shortened form of _faire comme
Charlemagne_, who died without losing any of the conquests he had
made.]
Charrette
_Mettre la charrette_ (or, _charrue_) _devant les bœufs_ = To put
the cart before the horse.
[Lucian says: ἡ ἅμαξα τὸν βοῦν ἕλκει = The waggon drags the ox.]
_Mieux vaut être cheval que charrette_ = Better lead than be led.
Chasser
_Faire un chassé-croisé_ = To go to and fro in all directions; to
exchange places; to play at “puss in the corner.”
“_Chassez le naturel, il revient au galop_” = What is bred in the
bone will never come out of the flesh.
[DESTOUCHES, _Le Glorieux_, iii. 5. Comp. HORACE, _Ep. I._,
x. 24: “naturam expellas furca, tamen usque recurret,” and LA
FONTAINE, _Fables_, ii. 18: