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, 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, [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 = [“C’est chose qui moult me deplaist, “La poule ne doit pas chanter devant le coq.” *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, [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 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.” *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. 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 = *Fille oisive, À mal pensive = An idle brain is the devil’s workshop. [“For Satan finds some mischief still
Fils Il est bien le fils de son pÈre = He is a chip of the old block. Être le fils de ses oeuvres = 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’oeuvre = 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.] 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. 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. *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; 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.] 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, [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 coeur = To bear up against misfortune; To make the best of a bad job. 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 *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.) [This implies that it is not only at chess that the king is surrounded by fools, but at court too. It must not be forgotten that le fou is called the bishop in the English game.] Il est fou À lier (or, fou furieux) = He is raving mad. Il vaut mieux Être fou avec tous que sage tout seul = “One had as good be out of the world as out of the fashion.” [Colley Cibber, Love’s Last Shift, Act ii.] La Folle du Logis = Fancy, imagination. Fouet Il ne marche qu’À coups de fouet = He works only when he is compelled. Fouetter Fouette, cocher! = Fire away! Go ahead! Four Il fait noir comme dans un four = It is as dark as pitch. [MoliÈre, Le Sicilien, ii.] Faire un four = To make a blunder. Cette piÈce a fait four = That piece was a failure, a frost. On ne peut Être au four et au moulin = One cannot be in two places at the same time. Fourchette Une bonne fourchette = A good trencherman. Fourgon *La pelle se moque du fourgon = The pot calls the kettle black. Fourreau *L’ÉpÉe (or, la lame) use le fourreau = The mind is too active for the body. [“A fiery soul, which, working out its way, Il ne savait oÙ se fourrer = He did not know where to hide his head. Il faut qu’il fourre le doigt (or, more fam., nez) partout = He must have a finger in every one’s pie. Frais En Être pour ses frais = To have lost one’s money (or, pains) for nothing. Faire des frais = (lit.) To go to expense; (fig.) To make efforts to please. Faire ses frais = To cover one’s expenses. Faire les frais de la conversation = 1. To keep a conversation going. 2. To be (oneself) the subject of conversation. En bon franÇais = (lit.) In good French; (fig.) In plain English (i.e. without mincing matters). Parler franÇais comme une vache espagnole = To speak French very badly. [This is said to be a corruption of comme un Basque espagnol (formerly written Vace). The Basques speak French with a very bad accent, owing to their language having no relation whatever to the Romance tongues.] Franquette Recevoir quelqu’un À la bonne franquette = To treat a person without ceremony. Frein Ronger son frein = To put up with annoyance in silence. A vieille mule frein dorÉ = Old women have the finest clothes. Friandise Aimer les friandises (chatteries) = To have a sweet tooth. Friser Elle frise la quarantaine = She is just upon forty. Froid Cela se mange froid = (lit.) That is eaten cold; (fig.) That is a matter of no importance; That is easily done. Il n’a pas froid aux yeux = He is a plucky fellow. Il fait un froid de loup = It is terribly cold. Front Vous heurtez de front tous ses prÉjugÉs = You run counter to (or, openly attack) all his prejudices. Il mÈne plusieurs affaires de front = He carries on several schemes simultaneously; He has many irons in the fire. Marcher de front = To walk abreast. Frotter *Qui s’y frotte s’y pique = Whoever meddles with it, will smart for it. [Compare the motto of the Order of the Thistle: Nemo me impune lacessit.] Je ne vous conseille pas de vous y frotter = I advise you not to meddle with it. On l’a frottÉ d’importance (or, comme il faut) = He got a good drubbing. Fuite Une bonne fuite vaut mieux qu’une mauvaise attente = Discretion is the better part of valour. FumÉe Manger son pain À la fumÉe du rÔt = To see others enjoying themselves without joining in. Il n’y a pas de feu sans fumÉe = There is no smoke without fire. [Though the French form is not exact, it is preferred to “il n’y a pas de fumÉe sans feu” for rhythmical reasons. Compare Plautus, Curculio, i. 1, 53, “Flamma fumo est proxima.”] Fur Au fur et À mesure = In proportion as. Fureur Cela fait fureur maintenant = That is quite the rage now; That is all the go now. Fusil Changer son fusil d’Épaule = To change one’s opinion, profession, tactics. [A more familiar expression is retourner sa veste = to be a turn-coat.] |
