draw; It is easiest learning at another’s cost.
Expérience
*_Expérience passe science_ = Experience is the best master;
Experientia docet.
[“Experience is the best of schoolmasters, only the school fees
are heavy.” CARLYLE, _Misc. Essays_, i. 137.]
Extrême
_Les extrêmes se touchent_ = Extremes meet; Too far east is west;
Too much care may be as bad as downright negligence.
F.
Fabrique
_C’est de sa fabrique_ = That is of his invention.
_Marque de fabrique_ = Trade-mark.
Face
_Il fera face à tout_ = He will meet every demand.
_Ce portrait est pris de face_ = That portrait is taken full face.
_Jouer à pile ou face_ = To play at heads or tails, pitch and
toss.
_Il le regarda bien en face_ = He looked him straight in the face.
Façon
_Donner un ouvrage à façon_ = To put out a job to be done.
_On travaille à façon_ (of small tailors, etc.) = People’s own
materials made up.
_C’est un conte de sa façon_ = It is a story of his own invention.
_Maintenant qu’il est riche, il s’en donne de la bonne façon_ =
Now he is rich, he refuses himself nothing.
_Je lui dirai ma façon de penser_ = I’ll give him a piece of my
mind.
_Une façon de parler_ = A form of speech; A way of speaking (not
to be taken literally).
[_e.g._ “Quand je dis qu’il n’est jamais venu en Angleterre c’est
une façon de parler, car il a passé huit jours à Douvres il y a
dix ans.”]
_Cet homme n’a ni mine ni façon_ = That man has neither grace nor
good looks; That man is as awkward as he is ugly.
_C’est lui qui fait les sottises et c’est moi qui en paye la
façon_ = He commits the mistakes and I have to pay for them.
_Il a bonne façon_ = He has good style; He is well got up.
_De toute façon il a tort_ = At any rate he is wrong; Whichever
way you look at it, he is wrong.
_Sans façon_ = Without ceremony, without fuss.
_De façon ou d’autre_ = Somehow or other.
Fagot
_C’est un vrai fagot d’épines_ = He is a regular bear.
*_Il y a fagots et fagots_ = There are men and men; All men are
not alike.
[MOLIÈRE, _Le Médecin malgré lui_, i. 6.]
_Sentir le fagot_ = 1. To be tainted with heresy (obsolete). 2.
Not to be quite honest.
Fagoter
_Comme vous voilà fagotée!_ = How awkwardly you are dressed! What
a fright (_or_, dowdy) you look!
[“Pour moi, quand une femme a le don de se taire,
Eût-elle en vrai magot tout le corps fagoté,
Je lui voudrais donner le prix de la beauté.”
CORNEILLE, _Le Menteur_.]
Faillir
_J’ai failli tomber_ = I very nearly fell.
Faim
_C’est la faim qui épouse la soif_ = They are both very poor; It
is one beggar marrying another.
*_La faim chasse le loup hors du bois_ = Hunger tames the lion;
Hunger will break through stone walls.
Faire
_Rien n’y fait_ = Nothing has any effect upon him (_or_, on it);
It is all of no use.
_Comment est-il fait?_ = What sort of a man is he?
*_Ce qui est fait est fait_ = It is no good crying over spilt
milk.
*_On ne peut faire qu’en faisant_ = Practice makes perfect.
_Faire la Saint-Lundi_ = To do no work on Monday. (See _Lundi_.)
[Colloquially: _Faire le Lundi._]
_Tâchez de faire quelques provisions_ = Try and collect some
provisions.
_Faire dix ans de travaux forcés_ = To undergo ten years’ penal
servitude.
_Il est bon de se faire à la fatigue_ = It is good to accustom
oneself to fatigue.
_Coquelin fait le rôle principal_ = Coquelin is taking the
principal part.
_On le fait riche_ = He is said to be rich.
_Cela ne me fait ni chaud ni froid_ = It is all the same to me.
_Je n’ai que faire de vos conseils_ = I do not care a jot for
your advice; I do not want your advice.
*_Qui bien fera, bien (se) trouvera_ = Who works well will
have a good reward.
_Il ne faut pas me la faire_ (pop.) = You must not try that on
with me.
_Combien faites-vous cette étoffe?_ = How much are you asking for
this stuff?
_Il aime à ce qu’on fasse cas de lui_ = He likes to be made a
fuss of.
_Il fait bien son chemin_ = He is getting on in the world.
_Ils ne font qu’un_ = They are hand and glove together.
_Cela fait beaucoup_ = That makes a great difference.
_Cela me fait sortir des gonds_ = That exasperates me.
_Il faut faire mousser sa marchandise_ = One must puff one’s
goods.
_Qu’est-ce que cela me fait?_ = What is that to me?
_Faire huit kilomètres à pied, à cheval, en voiture_ = To walk,
ride, drive, five miles.
_Le vert fait bien avec le rose_ = Green goes well with pink;
Pink and green are fit for a queen.
_Faire des siennes_ = To be at one’s old tricks.
_Il n’en fait qu’à sa volonté_ = He is self-willed.
_C’est à faire à vous de réussir_ = You are the man to succeed.
_C’en est fait de lui_ = He is done for; It is all up with him.
_Ce qui est fait n’est pas à faire_ = Better to finish it now
than to leave it.
_Ce n’est ni fait ni à faire_ = It is done, but badly, (in a
slovenly fashion).
_Il fait cher vivre à Londres_ = Living in London is dear.
_Que faire?_ = What am I (_or_, are we) to do? What is to be done?
_Pourquoi faire?_ = What for?
_Comment faire?_ = What is to be done?
_Que voulez-vous que j’y fasse?_ = How can I help it? What would
you have me do? It is no business of mine.
_Je ne saurais qu’y faire_ = I cannot help it.
_A chose faite point de remède_ = What is done cannot be undone.
_Laissez-le faire_ = Do not interfere with him.
_Si faire se peut_ = If possible.
_Cela ne fait rien_ = That does not matter.
_Il n’en fera rien_ = He will do nothing of the sort.
_Je m’y fais_ = I am getting used to it.
_C’est bien fait_ = It serves him (_or_, her, you) right.
_Quel temps fait-il?_ = What is the weather like?
_Quel temps il fait!_ = What weather this is!
_Paris ne s’est pas fait en un jour_ = Rome was not built in a
day.
_Il s’est fait jardinier_ = He became a gardener.
_Elle se fait vieille_ = She is getting old.
_Pour se faire la main_ = To get one’s hand in (_i.e._ to get
accustomed to the work).
_Se faire jour à travers la foule_ = To force one’s way through
the crowd.
_Je me fais fort de le faire_ = I feel quite confident of doing
it.
_Coquelin sait le mieux se faire une tête_ = Coquelin is the
cleverest at altering his features, at making up.
_Cela se fait maintenant_ = That is the fashion now.
_Cela ne se fait pas_ = That is not proper; That is not the
correct thing.
Faiseur
_C’est un faiseur d’embarras_ = He is a fussy personage.
Fait
_Cela est de mon fait_ = That is my doing.
_Venons au fait_ = Let us come to the point.
_Mettez-moi au fait de ce qui s’est passé_ = Tell me what
happened.
_Il lui a dit son fait_ = He told him what he thought of him
(_not_ complimentary); He gave him a bit of his mind.
_Si fait!_ = Yes, indeed! On the contrary!
_Cette place est votre fait_ = That situation is just the thing
for you.
_Je suis sûr de mon fait_ = I am sure of what I am saying; I know
what I am about.
_C’est un fait accompli_ = It is done and cannot be undone.
_Travailler à prix fait_ (or, _à forfait_) = To work at an agreed
price; To work by the piece.
_Prendre quelqu’un sur le fait_ = To take any one in the act.
_Il a pris fait et cause pour moi_ = He stood up for me; He took
my part.
Falloir
_L’homme qu’il faut_ = The very man (for a post).
_Il le faut_ = It must be so.
_Il fallait voir comme il était content_ = You should have seen
how happy he was.
_Peu s’en fallut qu’il ne fût reçu_ = He was all but received; He
failed for a few marks.
[Latin: Haud multum abfuit quin....]
_C’est un homme comme il faut_ = He is a perfect gentleman.
_C’est un homme comme il en faut_ = He is one of the right sort.
[Sometimes in bad sense: He is the sort of man we want to do that
dirty work.]
_C’est un homme comme il en faudrait beaucoup_ = I wish more
men were like him (because of his straightforward or courageous
nature).
_S’il n’est pas un fripon, il ne s’en faut guère_ = If he is not
a rascal, he is precious near it.
_Il s’en faut beaucoup que l’un ait autant de mérite que l’autre_
= There is a great difference in merit between the two.
_Il s’en faut de beaucoup que leur nombre soit complet_ = Their
number is far from being complete.
[The former of these two idioms should refer to quality, the
latter to quantity.]
Farine
_Des gens de même farine_ = Persons of the same kidney (generally
in a bad sense); People tarred with the same brush.
Fat
“_Le bruit est pour le fat, la plainte pour le sot,
L’honnête homme trompé s’éloigne et ne dit mot_,”
= Rows are for muffs, ’tis only fools complain.
The gentleman deceived will grin and bear the pain.
[LA NOUE, _La Coquette corrigée_, i. 3 (1756).]
Faute
_Rien ne vous fera faute_ = You will want for nothing.
_Il ne se fait faute de rien_ = He denies himself nothing.
_C’est une faute d’inattention_ = It is a slip.
_C’est une faute d’impression_ = It is a misprint.
_Il ne se fait pas faute de se plaindre_ = He complains freely.
_Faute de mieux_ = For want of something better.
Faux
_Chanter faux_ = To sing out of tune.
_Faire un faux pas_ = (lit.) To stumble; (fig.) To make a slip;
To commit a mistake.
_Vous faites fausse route_ = You are taking the wrong road; You
are on the wrong track.
_Cette poutre porte à faux_ = That beam does not rest properly on
its support.
_Cette remarque a porté à faux_ = That remark was not to the
point, was not conclusive.
_Faux comme un jeton_ = As false as Judas; As false as a die.
_Je m’inscris en faux contre cette assertion_ = I emphatically
deny the truth of that assertion.
Fée
_C’est la fée Carabosse_ = She is an old hag.
Fêler
*_Les pots fêlés sont ceux qui durent le plus_ = The door with
the creaking hinge hangs longest; The cracked pitcher goes
oftenest to the well.
Femme
*_Femme qui parle comme homme et geline qui chante comme coq ne
sont bonnes à tenir_ =
A whistling woman and a crowing hen
Are good for neither cocks nor men.
[“C’est chose qui moult me deplaist,
Quand poule parle et coq se taist.”
_Roman de la Rose._
“La poule ne doit pas chanter devant le coq.”
MOLIÈRE, _Les Femmes Savantes_, v. 3.]
*_Prends le premier conseil d’une femme et non le second_ = A
woman’s instinct is better than her reason.
[Montaigne coined the phrase _l’esprit primesautier_ to describe
this feminine peculiarity of either seeing a thing at once or not
at all.]
_Femme sotte se connaît à la cotte_ = A foolish woman is known by
her finery.
_Ce que femme veut Dieu le veut_ = Woman must have her way.
*_Souvent femme varie,
Bien fol est qui s’y fie_ =
Between a woman’s yes and no,
There’s no room for a pin to go.
A woman’s mind
And winter wind
Change oft.
[These words are said to have been written by François I. on two
little leaded panes in his room at the castle of Chambord, about
ten miles from Blois. Brantôme says that while talking with his
sister, Marguerite d’Angoulême, he engraved the saying with a
diamond ring. Report has it that Louis XIV. broke the glass with
his stick at the request of Mademoiselle de la Vallière. However
that may be, the visitor to Chambord will see that the words have
been rewritten on the window.]
_Ciel pommelé et femme fardée ne sont pas de longue durée_ = A
mackerel sky, not long wet and not long dry.
Fenêtre
_Il faut passer par là ou par la fenêtre_ = It is absolutely
inevitable.
Fer
*_Il faut battre le fer pendant qu’il est chaud_ = You must
strike while the iron is hot.
[“Ce pendant que le fer est chault il le fault
battre.”--RABELAIS, _Pantagruel_, ii. 31.]
_Cela ne vaut pas les quatre fers d’un chien_ = That is not worth
a rap, a fig (_i.e._, nothing, for a dog is not shod).
_Il tomba les quatre fers en l’air_ = (lit.) He fell on his back;
(fig.) He was struck all of a heap.
_Il y a quelque fer qui cloche_ = There is a hitch somewhere. (See
_Clocher_.)
Férir
_Sans coup férir_ = Without striking a blow.
Ferré
_Il est ferré sur la géographie_ = He is well up in geography.
Fête
*_Ce n’est pas tous les jours fête_ = Christmas comes but once a
year.
_Faire fête à quelqu’un_ = To welcome some one heartily.
_Je me fais une fête de passer huit jours à la campagne_ = I
look forward with pleasure to the idea of spending a week in the
country.
Feu
_Il n’a ni feu ni lieu_ = He has neither house nor home.
_L’ennemi mit le pays à feu et à sang_ = The enemy put the
country to fire and sword.
_Je n’y ai vu que du feu_ = It was impossible for me to find out
how the thing was done (as it was done so quickly); It was done
so quickly (_or_, cleverly) that I could not make head or tail of
it.
_Vous me faites mourir à petit feu_ = You are killing me by
inches; You are torturing me to death.
_Il ne faut pas jouer avec le feu_ = One should not play with
edged tools.
_Il n’est feu que de bois vert_ = None are so active as the young.
_Il jette feu et flamme_ = He frets and fumes; He is in a great
rage.
_Faire feu des quatre pieds_ = To strain every nerve.
_Ce n’est qu’un feu de paille_ = It is only a flash in the pan;
It will not last.
_Il a jeté tout son feu_ = 1. His anger is over now. 2. He has
used up all his ideas.
_C’est le feu et l’eau_ = They are as opposite as fire and water.
_Faire feu_ = To fire (rifles, guns).
_Faire du feu_ = To light a fire.
Fève
*_Il a trouvé la fève au gâteau_ = He has hit the mark; He has
made a lucky discovery.
[It was (and is still in many places) the custom to hide a bean
in the cake on Twelfth Night, and the person who found it was the
king of the revels.
“Pensent avoir trouvé la fève du gasteau.”
RÉGNIER, _Satires_, vii.]
*_Donner un pois pour avoir une fève_ = To give a sprat to catch
a herring. (See _Œuf_.)
Fier
_Fier comme Artaban_ (or, _comme un Écossais_) = As proud as a
peacock.
[Artaban was the hero of _Cléopâtre_, a romance by La Calprenède,
a Gascon. The phrase is also said to be derived from Artabanes,
King of Parthia. “Plus fier que tous les Artabans.”--ROSTAND,
_Cyrano de Bergerac_, i. 2.]
Fièvre
*_Tomber de fièvre en chaud mal_ (or, _de la poêle dans la
braise_, _de Charybde en Scylla_) = To fall out of the frying-pan
into the fire.
[“Incidit in Scyllam cupiens vitare Charybdim.”--Compare HOMER,
_Od._ xii. 85.
“Thus when I shun Scylla, your father, I fall into Charybdis,
your mother.”--SHAKESPEARE, _Merchant of Venice_, iii. 5.]
Figue
*_Moitié figue, moitié raisin_ = 1. Partly willingly, partly by
force. 2. Half one thing and half another. 3. Half in jest, half
in earnest.
[This expression is often used of a remark that may be
complimentary or not.]
Fil
_Je lui donnerai du fil à retordre_ = I will cut out his work for
him; I will give him a deal of trouble.
_Ce sont des finesses cousues de fil blanc_ = Those tricks are
easily found out.
*_A toile ourdie Dieu envoie le fil_ = God sends thread for a
begun web.
_Au fil de l’eau_ = With the stream.
_Au fil de l’épée_ = To the edge of the sword.
Filer
_Filer à l’anglaise_ = To leave without saying good-bye, without
attracting attention; To take French leave.
*_Du temps que Berthe filait_ = When Adam delved and Eve span; In
the good old times.
[Berthe was the mother of Charlemagne. She was known as _Berthe
au grand pied_ from her club foot.]
_Filer doux_ = To sing small.
_Il faut filer_ (or, _Filons!_) (fam.) = We must be off, trot off.
Fille
_La plus belle fille du monde ne peut donner que ce qu’elle a_ =
No man can give more than he has; A man cannot give what he has
not got.
*_Quand on a des filles, on est toujours berger_ =
My son is my son till he gets him a wife,
My daughter’s my daughter all the days of her life.
*_Fille oisive, à mal pensive_ = An idle brain is the devil’s
workshop.
[“For Satan finds some mischief still
For idle hands to do.”
ISAAC WATTS, _Divine Songs_, xx.]
_Fille trop vue, robe trop vêtue,
N’est pas chère tenue._ =
A maid often seen, a garment often worn,
Are disesteemed and held in scorn.
Fils
_Il est bien le fils de son père_ = He is a chip of the old block.
_Être le fils de ses œuvres_ = To be a self-made man.
Fin (subst.)
_À la fin vous voilà!_ = Here you are at last!
_À la fin des fins_ (or, _en fin finale_) _vous nous direz
quelque chose_ = At last you will tell us something.
_À telle fin que de raison_ = At all events; At any rate.
*_La fin couronne l’œuvre_ = The end crowns all; All’s well that
ends well.
*_Qui veut la fin veut les moyens_ = Where there is a will there
is a way; If you want the end you must not stick at the means.
*_La fin justifie les moyens_ = Success justifies the means by
which it has been attained.
_Il touche à sa fin_ = He is nearing his end; It is nearly over.
*_En toutes choses il faut considérer la fin_ = We must always
look to the end; Look before you leap.
[LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, iii. 5. The motto of the Kennedy family
is “Look to the end,” or “Avise la fin.”]
_C’est fin de siècle_ = That is smart, up to date.
[This expression came to the front in Paris about the time of the
1889 Exhibition. In 1890 appeared a play called “Paris fin de
siècle,” by Blum and Toché, in which occur these words: “C’est
un mot nouveau qui dit très bien ce qu’il veut dire. Le siècle
n’a plus que dix ans à vivre et, vois-tu, il veut les passer
gaiement.” The saying, however, has lost its sense, and is
becoming obsolete now that a new century has begun.]
Fin (adj.)
_Il sait le fort et le fin de son art_ = He knows every trick of
his trade.
_Plus fin que lui n’est pas bête_ = He who can take him in is no
fool.
_J’arrive du fin fond de l’Afrique_ = I have come from the very
depths of Africa.
_C’est une fine mouche_ (or, _lame_) = He is a cunning fellow, a
sly dog. (See _Compère_.)
_C’est fin contre fin_ = It is diamond cut diamond.
[Also: _Fin contre fin ne vaut rien pour doublure._]
_Fin contre fin gare la bombe_ = “When Greeks joined Greeks, then
was the tug of war.”
[NATHANIEL LEE, _Alexander the Great_, iv. 2.]
_Dites nous le fin mot_ = Tell us the secret.
_Il a le nez fin_ = 1. He has a good nose. 2. He is far-sighted,
sagacious.
_Jouer au plus fin_ = To vie in cunning.
Finir
_Ce sont des disputes à n’en plus finir_ = Those are endless
quarrels.
Flamber
_C’est un homme flambé_ = He is a ruined man, a lost man.
Flanc
_Il s’est battu les flancs pour rien_ = He gave himself all that
trouble for nothing.
_Il est sur le flanc_ = He is laid up, on his back.
_Prêter le flanc à des reproches_ = To lay oneself open to
reproaches.
Flétrir
*_De rose flétrie nul ne soucie_ = The fading rose has no suitor.
Fleur
_C’est la fine fleur de l’armée_ = It is the cream of the army.
_L’affaire passa à fleur de corde_ = The matter only just
succeeded.
_Les yeux à fleur de tête_ = Goggle eyes (_i.e._ on a level with
the cheek-bone and fore-head).
_À fleur de terre_ = On a level (_or_, flush) with the ground.
_À la fleur de l’âge_ = In the prime of life.
_Il a les nerfs à fleur de peau_ = His nerves are always on the
twitch; He is extremely sensitive.
Fleurette
_Conter fleurettes_ = To say soft nothings.
Flûte
*_Ce qui vient de la flûte s’en va au tambour_ = Lightly come,
lightly go; What is dishonestly acquired is easily dissipated.
Foi
_C’est un homme sans foi ni loi_ = He is a man without honour or
honesty.
_Il est de peu de foi_ = He is not to be trusted.
_Ses ouvrages en font foi_ = His works prove it.
*_C’est avec la bonne foi qu’on va le plus loin_ = Honesty is the
best policy.
_La foi du charbonnier_ = Blind faith.
_Je ne puis ajouter foi à ce qu’il dit_ = I cannot believe what
he says.
_Ma foi!_ = Upon my word!
Foin
_Mettre du foin dans ses bottes_ = To feather one’s nest.
[Literally, to place hay in one’s wooden shoes to keep one’s feet
warm. Another saying is _Mettre du beurre dans ses épinards_.]
_Avoir du foin dans ses bottes_ = To be well off.
_Quand il n’y a pas de foin au râtelier, les chevaux se battent_
= When poverty comes in at the door, love flies out at the window.
Folie
_Ce qui me lie, c’est ma folie_ = Straw bands will tie a fool’s
hands.
Fond
_Je fais fond sur vous_ = I rely on you.
_Il sait cette langue à fond_ = He knows that language thoroughly.
_Il est ruiné de fond en comble_ = He is utterly ruined.
_Au fond, il a tort_ = He is wrong in reality.
_Courir à fond de train_ = To run at the top of one’s speed.
Fonds
_Article de fonds_ = Leading article (in a newspaper).
_Il possède une fortune en bien-fonds_ = He has a fortune in
landed property.
_Il a placé son argent à fonds perdu_ = He sank his money in an
annuity.
*“_Travaillez, prenez de la peine;
C’est le fonds qui manque le moins_” =
Work and take pains, _that_ you can always do.
Hard work and pain
Are ne’er in vain.
[LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, v. 9.]
Fontaine
*_Il ne faut pas dire, “Fontaine, je ne boirai pas de ton eau”_ =
One must never be sure of not wanting some one (_or_, something).
[Compare the proverb that Alfred de Musset took for the title of
one of his Proverbes: “Il ne faut jurer de rien.”]
Force
_Tu me payeras de gré ou de force_ = You shall pay me, whether
you like it or not.
_Hugo est un romantique dans toute la force du terme_ = Hugo is a
romanticist in the full sense of the word.
_Je suis à bout de force_ = I am exhausted, played out.
_Je ne suis pas de votre force_ = (lit.) I am not so strong as
you are; (fig.) I am no match for you.
_Force m’est de partir_ = I am compelled to go.
_Il faut à toute force l’empêcher de sortir_ = You must prevent
him going out by all the means in your power; We must do all we
can to prevent him going out.
_Il y avait force badauds_ = A quantity of loafers were there.
*_La force prime le droit_ = Might is right. (See _Fort_.)
_C’est un joueur de première force_ = He is a first-rate player.
_Force est restée à la loi_ = The police proved the stronger;
Order was restored.
_C’est un cas de force majeure_ = It is a case of absolute
necessity; It is an utter impossibility.
[_e.g._ “Le témoin n’a pu venir parce qu’il est dangereusement
malade; son absence est due à un cas de force majeure.”]
_Faire force de voiles_ = To crowd on all sail.
_Faire force de rames_ = To row with all one’s might.
*_Tout par amour, rien par force_ = Sweet words will succeed
where mere strength will fail; You may row your heart out if wind
and tide are against you.
_À force de travailler_ = By dint of working.
_À force de bras_ = By strength of arm.
_De vive force_ = By main force.
_Un tour de force_ = A feat (of strength or skill).
Forgeron
*_À force de forger on devient forgeron_ = Practice makes
perfect; Drawn wells are seldom dry.
[Lat. _Fit fabricando faber._]
Fort
_Cela est trop fort_ (or, _raide_) = That is too bad; That is
beyond a joke.
_Cela est par trop fort_ = That is really too bad.
[This _par_ is derived from the Latin intensive particle _per_,
as in perhorridus. In French one finds such words as _parfaire_,
_parachever_, and in old French this prefix was separable. Thus,
_tant il est parsage_ might be written _tant il par est sage_.
So, _Cela est par trop fort_ = _Cela est trop parfort_.]
_C’est un esprit fort_ = He is a freethinker.
_Voilà qui est fort_ = That is rather strong.
_Ça, ce n’est pas fort_ = That is very tame; There is not much in
that.
_A plus forte raison_ = All the more reason; A fortiori.
_Il faut que je parle, c’est plus fort que moi_ = I must speak, I
cannot help it.
_Le plus fort est fait_ = The worst is over; The most difficult
part is done.
_Savoir le fort et le faible de l’affaire_ = To know the ins and
outs of the matter.
_Le fort portant le faible_ = One thing with another; On an
average.
*“_La raison du plus fort est toujours la meilleure_” = Might is
right; There is no arguing with a large fist.
[LA FONTAINE, _Fables_, i. 10, _Le loup et l’agneau_.]
_Fort comme un Turc_ = As strong as a horse.
“_Ou tôt ou tard, ou près ou loin,
Le fort du faible a besoin_” =
The lion had need of the mouse.
[GÉNIN, _Récréations_, ii. 250.]
Fortune
_Chacun a dans sa vie un souris de la fortune_ = Fortune knocks
once at every man’s door.
_La fortune rit aux sots_ = Fools have the best luck.
[“Fortuna fortes adjuvat.”--LIVY, xxxiv. 37.]
_Voulez-vous accepter la fortune du pot?_ = Will you take
pot-luck with us?
_Faire contre fortune bon cœur_ = To bear up against misfortune;
To make the best of a bad job.
Fou
_Cela lui a coûté un argent fou_ (fam.) = That cost him a heap of
money.
*_Combattre un fou est temps perdu_ = Fools are not to be
convinced.
[Schiller says: “Heaven and Earth fight in vain against a dunce”
(“Mit der Dummheit fechten Götter selbst vergebens.”--_Jungfrau
von Orleans_), and the Chinese say: “One never needs his wit so
much as when one argues with a fool.”]
_Ne faites pas messagers des fous_ = “He that sendeth a message
by the hand of a fool cutteth off the feet and drinketh damage.”
Prov. xxvi. 6.
_Un fol ou bête
Fait bien conquête,
Mais bon ménage
C’est fait du sage_ =
A fool may meet with good fortune, but the wise only profit by it.
*_Plus on est de fous plus on rit_ = The more the merrier.
*_Qui ne sait pas être fou n’est pas sage_ = He is not wise who
does not sometimes make merry; It takes a wise man to make a fool.
*_Les fous sont aux échecs les plus proches des rois_ = In chess
the fool stands next to the king. (RÉGNIER, _Sat._ xiv.)