*_Vous faites la sourde oreille_ = None so deaf as those who will
not hear.
_Frapper comme un sourd_ = To beat unmercifully.
_Il court un bruit sourd_ = A rumour is being whispered.
_Ils ont recours à des menées sourdes_ = They have recourse to
underhand dealings.
Sourdine
_Il fait ses coups à la sourdine_ = He acts secretly, in an
underhand manner.
Sourire
_Cela me sourit assez_ = I rather like this.
Souris
*_Souris qui n’a qu’un trou est bientôt prise_ = It is good to
have more than one string to one’s bow.
*_On entendrait trotter une souris_ (or, _voler une mouche_) =
One could hear a pin drop.
_Elle est éveillée comme une petite souris_ (or, _comme une potée
de souris_) = She is as brisk as a bee.
Souvenir
_Autant que je puisse m’en souvenir_ = To the best of my
recollection.
_C’est du plus loin qu’il me souvienne_ = 1. I can barely
remember it. 2. It is as far back as I can recollect.
Souvent
_Plus souvent!_ (fam.) = Not if I know it! Twice!
Sucre
_Casser du sucre sur la tête de quelqu’un_ (pop.) = To speak ill
of any one in his absence.
Suite
_Cette maladie peut avoir des suites_ = That illness may have
serious consequences.
_Il n’a pas d’esprit de suite_ = He is not consistent; He keeps
at nothing long.
_Suite_ (of a serial story or article) = Continuation; Continued.
[Also:
_Suite et fin_ = Conclusion.
_À suivre_ = To be continued.
_La suite au prochain numéro_ = To be continued in our next.]
Sujet
_Être sujet à l’heure_ = To be tied to time.
_Être sujet à caution_ = Not to be relied upon. (See _Caution_.)
_C’est un mauvais sujet_ = He is a scamp, “a bad lot.”
[This is used in speaking of tiresome children, of flighty young
men, and of real rogues.]
_Petit mauvais sujet!_ = Little rascal! (to children).
Supplice
_Être au supplice_ = To be on thorns.
Sûr
_Pour sûr!_ (fam.) = I should think so, indeed!
T.
Table
_Tenir table ouverte_ = To keep open house.
_Faire table rase_ = To make a clean sweep and begin again; To
start everything afresh.
_Jouer cartes sur table_ = To act frankly, above board.
Tâche
_Prendre à tâche_ = To make it one’s business.
_Travailler à la tâche_ = To work by the piece.
Taillable
_Vilains taillables et corvéables à merci_ = Serfs taxable and
workable at their lord’s will and pleasure.
Taille
_Il est de taille à se défendre_ = He is big enough to defend
himself.
“_Ils nous ont fait une France à leur taille_” (BÉRANGER) = They
have brought France down to their level.
_Se tenant par la taille_ = With their arms round each other’s
waists.
_Frapper d’estoc et de taille_ = 1. To cut and thrust. 2. To hit
right and left; To lay about one.
Talon
_Il a l’esprit aux talons_ = He shines at the wrong end; He is
not witty.
_La bande se dispersa, les talons aux épaules_ = The gang took to
their heels.
_J’ai l’estomac dans les talons_ = I am very hungry.
Tambour
_On l’a mené tambour battant_ = They led him with a high hand;
They played the martinet with him.
_Il sortirent tambour battant, mèche allumée_ = They went out
with all the honours of war.
Tant
_Tous tant que nous sommes_ = Every one of us.
_Être tant à tant_ = To be even (in a game).
_Si cela vous ennuie tant soit peu, ne le faites pas_ = If that
is the least trouble, do not do it.
_Elle n’est pas jolie, tant s’en faut_ = She is not pretty, far
from it; She is anything but good-looking.
_Vous m’en direz tant_ = That alters the case; Ah! now I
understand. (See _Dire_.)
_Est-ce qu’elle est belle?--Elle est comme il y en a tant_ = Is
she beautiful?--Nothing to stare at; Nothing out of the common.
_Vous l’avez fait tant bien que mal_ = You did it in a casual
(off-hand) way.
_Je l’ai fait tant bien que mal_ = I did it as well as I could,
though I know it is not well done.
_Si tant est que_ .... = If it be true that....
Tapis
_Être sur le tapis_ = To be the subject of general conversation;
To be broached.
_Amuser le tapis_ (or, _la galerie_) = To amuse people by talking
the time away.
Tapisserie
_Faire tapisserie_ (fam.) = To be a wall-flower at a ball.
Tard
*_Mieux vaut tard que jamais_ = Better late than never.
[This is first found in Dionysius of Halicarnassus (ix. 11): “It
is better beginning late doing our duties than never.”]
Tarder
_Il me tarde de parler_ = I am anxious to speak.
_Il ne tardera pas à venir_ = It will not be long before he comes.
Tarte
_C’est sa tarte à la crème_ = It is his one constant objection.
[MOLIÈRE, _École des Femmes_, i. 1.]
Tel
*_Tel maître, tel valet_ = Like master, like man; Like well, like
bucket.
[“Selon le clerc est deu le maistre.”--VILLON, _Grand Testament_,
568.]
*_Telle vie, telle fin_ = Men die as they live.
_Je vous le rends tel quel_ = I return it to you just as it was
lent to me.
_Je la prendrai telle quelle_ = I will take it just as it is.
_Ce sont des gens tels quels_ (fam.) = They are “no great
shakes,” just ordinary people, humdrum people.
_Tel est pris qui croyait prendre_ = It is a case of the biter
bit.
_Monsieur un tel_ = Mr. So-and-so.
Temps
_Il se donne du bon temps_ = He does not work too hard; He enjoys
himself; He has a good time of it.
_Il prend le temps comme il vient_ = He takes things easily.
_Cela a fait son temps_ = That has had its day.
*_Du temps que Berthe filait_ = When the world was young; When
Adam delved and Eve span.
_Si le temps le permet_ = Wind and weather permitting.
_Le temps est à la pluie_ = It looks like rain.
_Le temps perdu ne se répare_ (or, _rattrape_) _pas_ = Time
wasted is gone indeed.
*_Qui a temps a vie_ = While there is life, there is hope; _Dum
spiro spero._
_Par le temps qui court_ = Nowadays; As times go.
*_Autres temps, autres mœurs_ = Manners change with the times.
_Au temps!_ = As you were! (military command).
[This is sometimes incorrectly written “Autant,” but military
movements were formerly divided into _temps_. When the
drill-sergeant makes a mistake in giving the word of command, he
says, “Au temps pour moi” = “My mistake, as you were!”]
Tendre
_Il vaut mieux tendre la main que le cou_ = It is better to beg
than to steal.
_L’arc toujours tendu se gâte_ = All work and no play makes Jack
a dull boy.
[“Neque semper arcum tendit Apollo.”--HORACE, _Carm_, II. x. 20.]
Tendresse
_Tendresse maternelle_ } = { A mother’s truth
_Toujours se renouvelle._ } { Keeps constant youth.
[Archbishop Trench quotes the French and German forms as rhyming
equally well in both languages; the English, he confesses, is not
such a good translation. The German is:
Mutter treu’
Wird täglich neu.]
Tenir
_Il ne tint à rien qu’ils ne se battissent_ = They were within an
ace of fighting.
_Quand on est bien, on ne s’y peut tenir_ = The love of change
makes us give up even a comfortable position.
_Un tiens vaut mieux que deux tu l’auras_ = A bird in the hand is
worth two in the bush.
[Also: _Un bon aujourd’hui vaut mieux que deux demain._]
_Il tient de son père_ = He takes after his father.
_Il tient à ce livre_ = He treasures that book.
_Je ne tiens plus à rien_ = I no longer care for anything.
_Il ne tiendra pas à moi qu’il ne réussisse_ = It will not be my
fault if he does not succeed.
_Je le tiens de bonne source_ = I have it on good authority.
_Tenir le loup par les oreilles_ = To be in a critical situation,
dilemma.
_On le tient à quatre_ = It needs four men to hold him down.
_Je me suis tenu à quatre pour ne pas lui dire ses vérités_ = It
was almost more than I could do not to tell him what I thought of
him.
_Il n’y a pas d’amitié qui tienne_ = Friendship has nothing to do
with the question; It must be done in spite of friendship.
_Qu’à cela ne tienne_ = Do not let that be any objection; Never
mind that.
_Je n’y tiens pas_ = I am not particular about it; I am not keen
on it.
_Je n’y tiens plus_ = I cannot stand it any longer.
_Je n’y ai pas tenu_ = I could not contain myself.
_Je ne sais à quoi m’en tenir_ = I do not know what to believe.
_Tenir comme teigne_ (pop.) = To stick like wax.
_À quoi cela tient-il?_ = What is that owing to?
_Il ne tient qu’à lui de commencer_ = It rests entirely with him
to begin; He can begin when he likes.
_Cela lui tient au cœur_ = He is anxious about it.
_Il n’a pas cédé, il a tenu bon_ = He did not give away, he stuck
to it.
_Tenez-vous-le pour dit_ = Take it for granted; Bear that in mind.
_Il en tient_ = 1. He is smitten. 2. He is caught.
_Tenez-vous-en là_ = Stop there, go no further in the matter; Be
satisfied with what you have already obtained.
_Tiens! c’est vous?_ = Hullo! is that you?
_Tiens, tiens!_ = Indeed, you don’t say so!
Terme
*_Il y a terme à tout_ = There is an end to everything.
[A German proverb says: “Everything has an end--a sausage two.”]
*_Qui a terme ne doit rien_ = No one is obliged to pay before a
debt is due.
_Le terme vaut l’argent_ = Time is money.
_Ménagez un peu vos termes_ = Moderate your expressions a little;
Be a little careful in what you say.
Terrain
_En mathématiques il est sur son terrain_ = He is quite in his
element at mathematics.
_Tâter le terrain_ = To feel one’s way (fig.).
Terroir
_Il sent le terroir_ = He is racy of the soil; He savours of his
country.
Tête
_Il a la tête près du bonnet_ = He is hasty, hot-headed.
*_Ce sont deux têtes dans un bonnet_ = They are hand and glove
together.
_Cet homme y va tête baissée_ = That man rushes blindly into it;
That man sets to work energetically.
_C’est un homme de tête_ = He has a head on his shoulders; He is
a man of resource.
_Il s’est monté la tête_ = He got excited over fancied or
exaggerated wrongs.
_C’est une tête carrée_ = He is an obstinate fellow.
_J’en ai par-dessus la tête_ = 1. I am sick and tired of it. 2. I
am head over ears in it.
_Je lui laverai la tête_ (pop.) = I will give it to him; I will
give him a sound drubbing.
_Il ne sait où donner de la tête_ = He does not know which way to
turn.
[_Donner_ here has the meaning of _heurter_, _frapper de la
tête_.]
_Donner de la tête contre le mur_ = To hit one’s head against a
stone wall.
_La tête me tourne_ = I feel giddy; my head swims.
_Il a mauvaise tête_ = He is a wrong-headed fellow.
_Il fait à sa tête_ = He will have his own way.
_Cet homme a mauvaise tête et bon cœur_ = That man is
quick-tempered, but kind-hearted.
_Vous lui avez tenu tête_ = You did not give in to him.
_Cet homme a de la tête_ = That man has his head screwed on the
right way.
Tiers
_Il ne faut pas dire vos affaires au tiers et au quart_ = You
must not tell your business to all the world, to everybody.
_Le tiers et le quart_ = Tom, Dick, and Harry.
Timbre
_Il a le timbre fêlé_ (fam.) = He is cracked; He has a screw
loose.
Tirer
_Il se fera tirer l’oreille_ = He will require pressing.
_Il tire le diable par la queue_ = He leads a struggling
existence.
_Vous ne me tirerez pas les vers du nez_ = You will not pump me
(_i.e._ make me tell secrets).
_Cet homme se tirerait d’un puits_ = That man would get out of
any difficulty, is full of resource.
_Je me ferais tirer à quatre avant de parler_ = Wild horses would
not make me speak.
_Il tire (touche) à sa fin_ = He is on his last legs.
_Je saurai en tirer parti_ = I shall be able to turn it to
account.
*_Tirez le rideau, la farce est jouée_ = Ring down the curtain,
the play is over.
[Words reported to have been said by Rabelais just before his
death.]
Titre
_On m’a donné cela à titre gratuit_ (or, _gracieux_) = They gave
me that for nothing.
_Cet or n’est pas au titre légal_ = This gold is not up to the
standard.
_À ce titre (compte) j’y perds_ = At that rate I am a loser.
Toit
_Crier par-dessus les toits_ = To proclaim from the housetops.
Tomber
_Je tombe d’accord avec vous sur ce point_ = I am at one with you
on that head.
_Je tombe des nues_ = I am astounded.
_Cet homme-là est bien tombé_ = That man has fallen on his feet;
That man has applied to the right person (_or_, ironic), to the
wrong person.
_L’enfant tombe par terre, mais le fruit tombe à terre_ = A child
falls on the ground, while fruit falls to the earth.
[_Par terre_ = from one’s own height; _à terre_ = from any
height.]
Tordre
_Je me tordais de rire_ (fam.) = I was splitting my sides (_or_,
convulsed) with laughter.
Tort
_Vous vous êtes mis dans votre tort_ = You put yourself in the
wrong.
_À tort ou à raison_ = Rightly or wrongly.
_À tort et à travers_ = At random, thoughtlessly.
Tôt
*_Le plus tôt sera le mieux_ = The sooner, the better.
Toucher
_Elle a l’air de ne pas y toucher_ = She looks as if butter would
not melt in her mouth; She is very sarcastic without appearing to
mean anything. (Comp. _Nitouche_.)
_C’est un touche-à-tout_ = He is a Jack of all trades; He meddles
with everything.
_Cela touche à la folie_ = That is but one remove from madness;
That borders on lunacy.
_Touchez-là_ = Here’s my hand on it.
Tour
_Faire ses quinze_ (or, _trente-six_) _tours_ = To do a hundred
useless things.
*_À chacun son tour_ = Every dog has his day; Now it is _my_ turn.
_Elle est faite au tour_ (or, _moule_) = She has a splendid
figure.
_Il fit cela en un tour de main_ = He did that in a moment.
_Un tour de faveur_ = Permission to go (_or_, do anything) before
one’s turn.
Trac
_Avoir le trac_ (fam.) = To be funky.
Train
_Mettre une affaire en train_ = To put a thing in hand.
_Pas dans le train_ = Not up-to-date; Of an older school.
_Il le mène bon train dans cette affaire_ = He drives him hard in
that matter.
_Il nous a menés bon train_ = He brought us along at a great rate.
_Allez toujours votre train_ = Go on as usual.
_Il est en train d’écrire_ = He is in the act of writing; He is
just writing.
_Je ne suis pas en train ce matin_ = I do not feel myself this
morning.
_Il est en train_ (pop.) = He is slightly intoxicated.
_Faire du train_ (pop.) = To kick up a dust.
_Il mène grand train_ = He lives like a lord.
_À fond de train_ = At full speed.
Trait
_Ce que vous dites n’a pas trait à la question_ = What you say
has nothing to do with the question.
_Ce sont là de vos traits_ = That is just like you.
_Avaler d’un trait_ = To drink off at one gulp, at a draught.
Traite
_Tout d’une traite_ = At a stretch, without stopping.
Traiter
_Il m’a traité de fat_ = He called me a fop.
_Il m’a traité en roi_ = He treated me like a lord.
Traître
_Il n’a pas dit un traître mot_ = He never spoke a single word.
Tramontane
_Perdre la tramontane_ = Not to know which way to turn; To lose
one’s head.
[Literally, to lose one’s bearings. Tramontane is derived from
the Italian _tramontana_, and originally meant the pole-star,
which was the star seen from the Mediterranean across the
mountains (the Alps). Compare _s’orienter_. See _Boule_.]
Trancher
_Cet homme n’est pas très honnête, tranchons le mot, c’est un
coquin_ = That man is not very honourable, in plain English, he
is a rascal. (See _Mot_.)
_Trancher la question, la difficulté_ = To cut the Gordian knot;
To solve the difficulty.
_Trancher du grand seigneur_ = To try and play the lord.
_Trancher dans le vif_ = (lit.) To cut to the quick; (fig.) To
set to work in earnest.
Travers
_Il a l’esprit de travers_ = He has an awkward temper; He does
not see things as they are; He is cross-grained.
_Il me regarda de travers_ = He looked black (askance) at me.
_Il prend tout de travers_ = He takes everything amiss.
Tréfonds
_J’en sais le fonds et le tréfonds_ = I know the ins and outs of
it, the long and the short of it.
[Also: _Je connais les tenants et aboutissants de l’affaire._]
Tremper
_Nous fûmes trempés jusqu’aux os_ = We were wet to the skin.
Trente
_Être sur son trente-et-un_ (fam.) = To be dressed up to the
nines.
Tricherie
*_Tricherie revient à son maître_ = Curses, like chickens, come
home to roost.
Trier
_Les soldats de la Garde étaient tous triés sur le volet_ = The
soldiers of the Guard were all picked men.
[_Volet_ is a gardener’s board on which he sorts seeds.]
Triste
_C’est un triste sire_ = He is a despicable, dishonourable fellow.
Tromper
_Il n’y a pas à s’y tromper_ = There is no mistake about it.
Trop
_Je ne sais trop_ = I don’t exactly know.
*_Qui dit trop ne dit rien_ = He who wants to prove too much
proves nothing.
Trou
_Faire un trou à la lune_ (fam.) = To shoot the moon; To fly from
one’s creditors.
Troubler
_C’est un trouble-fête_ = He is a mar-joy, a wet blanket.
Trousse
_Le voleur fuyait, mais nous étions à ses trousses_ = The thief
made off, but we were at his heels.
Trouver
_Cela se trouve bien_ = That is lucky.
Tu
_Être à tu et à toi_ = To be on very familiar terms with.
Tuer
_Crier à tue-tête_ = To shout at the top of one’s voice.
U.
Un
_Ne faire ni une ni deux_ = To make no bones about it; To make up
one’s mind quickly.
_C’est tout un_ = It is all the same.
Union
_L’union fait la force_ = United we stand, divided we fall.
Usine
_Ce ne sont que des usines à bachot_ (pop.) = They are mere
cramming shops.
[_Bachot_ = _baccalauréat_ = matriculation. The French equivalent
for our B.A. is rather _licencié-ès-lettres_, although the
examinations in the two countries are so different that any
comparison is very difficult.]
V.
Vache
_Parler français comme une vache espagnole_ = To talk horribly
bad French. (See _Français_.)
“_Un homme qui n’a jamais mangé de la vache enragée n’est jamais
qu’une poule mouillée_” (Mme. DE GIRARDIN) = A man who has never
roughed it is always a milksop.
_C’est le grand chemin des vaches_ = That is the beaten track.
_Le plancher des vaches_ (fam.) = Terra firma.
Vaincre
*“_À vaincre sans péril, on triomphe sans gloire_” = Where there
is no danger, there is no glory.
[CORNEILLE, _Cid_, ii. 2. Compare: “Scit eum sine gloria vinci
qui sine periculo vincitur.”--SENECA, _De Providentia_, iii.]
Valet
_Il n’y a pas de grand homme pour son valet de chambre_ = No man
is a hero to his valet.
_On ne prend pas de valet pour se servir soi-même_ = What! keep a
dog and bark thyself!
Valeur
“_Aux âmes bien nées
La valeur n’attend pas le nombre des années._”
CORNEILLE, _Cid_, ii. 2.
= Really brave men show their valour when quite young.
Valoir
_Cela vaut fait_ = That is as good as done.
_Vaut bien que mal_ = _Vaille que vaille_ = At all events; For
better, for worse.
_Il se fait trop valoir_ = He brags too much.
Veine
_Je suis en veine de le faire_ = I am just in the humour to do it.
_J’ai de la veine_ (pop.) = I am in luck.
Velours
_Faire patte de velours_ = To speak smoothly; To draw in one’s
claws.
*_Habit de velours, ventre de son_ = Silks and satins put out the
kitchen fire.
[Compare:
“Dress drains our cellar dry,
And keeps our larder lean.”
COWPER, _Task_, ii. 614.
An old French dicton says:
“Ne sois paon en ton parer,
Ny perroquet en ton parler,
Ny cicogne en ton manger,
Ny oye aussi en ton marcher.”]
Vendre
*_Chose qui plaît est à moitié vendue_ = Good wares make quick
market; Please the eye and fill the purse.
[“Chose qui plaist est à demy vendue.”--CHARLES D’ORLÉANS,
_Rondeau_ 194.]
Venir
*_Tout vient à point à qui sait attendre_ = Everything comes to
the man who waits.
[The older form of the proverb omitted _à_; for _qui_ = _si on_.]
_C’est un beau venir y voir_ = A pretty sight indeed!
_Où voulez-vous en venir?_ = What are you driving at? What is
your drift?
_Il se vante d’en venir à bout_ = He says he is sure to succeed.
Vent
_Il fait un vent à décorner_ (or, _écorner_) _un bœuf_ = There is
a wind enough to blow one’s head off.
_Autant en emporte le vent_ = That is but so much breath spent in
vain; It is not of the slightest consequence.
*_Vent au visage rend un homme sage_ = Adversity makes a man
wise, not rich.
_Celui qui sème le vent récolte la tempête_ = He who sows the
wind reaps the whirlwind; Those who live in glass houses should
not throw stones.
Ventre
*_Ventre affamé prend tout en gré_ =
“They that have no other meat,
Bread and butter are glad to eat.”
*_Ventre affamé n’a point d’oreilles_ = A hungry man will not
listen to reason; A hungry man is an angry man.
_Cela lui remet du cœur au ventre_ (fam.) = That gives him
courage again.
_Savoir ce que quelqu’un a dans le ventre_ (fam.) = To know what
a person is worth, what he thinks; To know the stuff a man is
made of.
_Il n’a pas trois mois dans le ventre_ (fam.) = He cannot live
three months.
_Le cheval courait ventre à terre_ = The horse was running as
hard as he could tear.
_Il était à plat ventre_ = He was flat on his face.
Ver
_Nu comme un ver_ = Stark naked; As naked as when one was born.
Vérité
*_On dit souvent la vérité en riant_ = There is many a true word
spoken in jest.
_Toute vérité n’est pas bonne à dire_ = All truths are not to be
spoken at all times.
_La vérité comme l’huile vient au-dessus_ = Truth will out; It
takes a good many shovelfuls of earth to bury the Truth.
[The Spaniards say: La verdad es hija de Dios = Truth is the
daughter of God.]
_C’est une vérité de Monsieur de la Palisse_ = It is an evident
truth.
[M. de la Palisse is the hero of a lengthy poem, one of the
verses of which runs as follows:
“M. de la Palisse est mort
Mort de maladie
Un quart d’heure avant sa mort
Il était encore en vie.”]
Verrier
_Il court comme un verrier déchargé_ = He runs like a
lamplighter. (See _Chat_.)
[Glaziers, when carrying glass, have to walk carefully and
slowly. When they have got rid of their load they make up for
lost time.]
Vers
“_Les plus beaux vers sont ceux qu’on ne peut pas
écrire._”--(LAMARTINE, _Voyage en Orient_) =
“Ah! the best prayers that faith may ever think
Are untranslatable by pen and ink.”
Bishop ALEXANDER.
Vert
_Vous ne le prendrez pas sans vert_ = You will not catch him
napping.
[An old game that used to be played in May was for two people to
undertake to be able always to show a green twig: failure to do
so lost the game.]
_Une verte vieillesse_ = A hale old age.
_Ils sont trop verts_ = The grapes are sour.
[LA FONTAINE, _Le Renard et les Raisins_, iii. 11.]
_Mettre un cheval au vert_ = To send a horse to grass.
Vessie
_Il veut nous faire prendre des vessies pour des lanternes_ = He
wishes us to believe the moon is made of green cheese.
[“Me voulez vous faire entendant
De vecies que ce sont lanternes?”
_Maistre Pierre Pathelin_, 800.]
Vie
_Faire vie qui dure_ = To live temperately; To husband one’s
resources.
_Avoir la vie dure_ = 1. To have a hard time. 2. To have nine
lives.
Vieux
_Vieux comme les rues, comme le monde_ = As old as the hills.
_C’est un homme de la vieille roche_ = He is a man of the old
school; he belongs to the good old stock.
_Un vieux de la vieille_ = A veteran of the old Imperial Guard;
One of the old brigade.
_Vieil ami et vieux vin sont vraiment deux bons vieux, mais vieux
écus sont encore mieux_ = Old friends and old wine are good, but
old gold is better than both.
[“Alonzo of Arragon was wont to say in commendation of Age, that
Age appeared to be best in four things: Old wood best to burn,
old wine to drink, old friends to trust, and old authors to
read.”--BACON, _Apophthegms_, 101.]
Vif
_Trancher_ (or, _couper_) _dans le vif_ = (lit.) To cut to the
quick; (fig.) To set to work in earnest.
_Ce reproche l’a piqué au vif_ = That reproach stung him to the
quick.
_Il est vif comme la poudre_ = 1. He is quick-tempered. 2. He is
bustling, quick at work.
_De vive voix_ = By word of mouth; Orally.
_Ce sont des descriptions prises sur le vif_ = Those descriptions
are life-like.
_Les paysans dans ce tableau sont pris sur le vif_ = The peasants
in that picture are life-like.
Vigne
_Il est dans les vignes du Seigneur_ = He is in his cups.
Vin
_Du vin à faire danser les chèvres_ = Sour wine not fit to drink.
*_À bon vin point d’enseigne_ = Good wine needs no bush.
[It was a Roman custom to hang out a branch of ivy at the doors
of taverns in honour of Bacchus. Branches of green stuff may
still be seen at the doors of wineshops along the Loire and in
Burgundy. Kelly traces the word “bosky” (_i.e._ drunk) to this
bush.]
_Être entre deux vins_ = To be half seas over (pop.).
*_Le vin entre, la raison sort_ = When ale is in, wit is out.
_On ne connaît pas le vin aux cercles_ = You can’t judge cigars
by the picture on the box.
_Tremper son vin_ = To water one’s wine.
[_Tremper_ = _tempérer_, not to wet, but to moderate.]
_Vous mouillez trop votre vin_ = You are drowning the miller.
Violent
_Cela est un peu violent_ = That is too bad.
Violon
_Payer les violons_ = To pay the piper.
Visière
_Je lui ai rompu en visière_ = I attacked (_or_, contradicted)
him openly.
[“Je n’y puis plus tenir, j’enrage; et mon dessein
Est de rompre en visière à tout le genre humain.”
MOLIÈRE, _Le Misanthrope_, i. 1.
Literally the phrase means: to break one’s lance against the
visor of one’s enemy.]
Vite
_Plus vite que ça_ (fam.) = Look sharp about it.
Vivre
_Je n’ai pas trouvé âme qui vive_ = I did not find a soul.
*_Qui vivra verra_ = He who lives longest will see most; Time
will show (tell).
_Monsieur vit de ses rentes_ = The gentleman is independent
(_i.e._ has an income of his own).
_Apprendre à vivre_ = To learn manners.