Jamais
Au grand jamais = Never, no never.
  Jambe Il court À toutes jambes = He is running as fast as his legs will carry him. [Compare: À toute bride, À toute vapeur, À toute vitesse.] Il a pris ses jambes À son cou = He took to his heels. Il a jouÉ des jambes = He took to flight. Il a des jambes de quinze ans = He still walks well. Cela ne lui rend pas la jambe mieux faite! (ironic.) = And a lot of good that will do him! Cela vous ferait une belle jambe (ironic.) = A fine lot of good that will do you. Il a les jambes en manche de veste (fam.) = He is bow-legged. Il le fera par dessous la jambe = He will do it with the greatest ease (or, carelessly). Il a des fourmis dans les jambes = He is fidgety, restless. Jaune Jaune comme un coing = As yellow as a guinea. Jean Être gros Jean comme devant = To be no better off than one was before, in spite of all one’s efforts. [Rabelais, Pantagruel, iv. second prologue, and La Fontaine, Fables, vii. 10.] Jeter Il jette son argent par les fenÊtres = He plays ducks and drakes with his money. C’est jeter de l’huile sur le feu = It is adding fuel to the fire (flames). Jeu *Jeu qui trop dure ne vaut rien (Charles d’OrlÉans) = Too much of a good thing is bad. C’est vieux jeu = That is quite old-fashioned. Ne me mettez pas en jeu = Do not mix me up in it. Cela passe le jeu = That is beyond a joke. *Jeu de mains, jeu de vilains = 1. Horse-play is not gentlemanly. 2. Rough play often ends in tears. Il fait bonne mine À mauvais jeu = He puts a good face on the matter; He makes the best of a bad job. *A beau jeu beau retour = One good turn deserves another. Nous sommes À deux de jeu = We are even; We are a match for each other; Two can play at that game. Je vous donne beau jeu = (lit.) I give you good cards; (fig.) I give you a good opportunity; I play into your hands. Jouer gros jeu = (lit.) To play for high stakes; (fig.) To risk very much in an attempt. Cela n’est pas du jeu = 1. That is not fair, not cricket; You are not playing the game. 2. That was not agreed upon. *Qui jeune n’apprend, rien ne saura = An old dog will learn no tricks. (See Jeunesse.) *Si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait = If only the young had experience and the old strength; If things were to be done twice, all would be wise. Ce que poulain prend en jeunesse, il le continue en vieillesse = Youth and white paper take any impression. [Also: Vieil arbre mal aisÉ À redresser. Compare the English, “Old dogs are hard to train.” (See Jeune.) “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.”—Proverbs xxii. 6.] Il faut que jeunesse se passe = Boys will be boys. Joie Un rabat-joie = A mar-joy; A wet blanket. Jouer Il joua de son reste = He played his last card; He was on his last legs. [Carefully distinguish this from Jouir de son reste = To make the most of one’s remaining time.] Il joue au plus sÛr = He plays a safe game. Jouer de malheur = To have a run of ill-luck. Jouer serrÉ = To act cautiously; To leave nothing to chance. Jour Ces gens vivent au jour le jour = Those men live from day to day, from hand to mouth. *À chaque jour suffit sa peine = Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof. Je suis À jour = I am up to date; I am not behind in my work. *TÔt ou tard la vÉritÉ se fait jour = Sooner or later the truth will come out. C’est le jour et la nuit = They are as different as chalk and cheese. Il n’est si long jour qui ne vienne À vÊpres = [From a poem by Stephen Hawes, a poet of the reign of Henry VII. Compare: “Come what come may, And: A bon jour, bonne oeuvre = The better the day, the better the deed. *Ce n’est pas tous les jours fÊte = 1. Christmas comes but once a year. 2. One cannot always have “a high old time,” but must work as well. 3. Life is not all beer and skittles. D’aujourd’hui en huit = This day week. Il y a aujourd’hui huit jours = This day last week. En plein jour = In broad daylight. Il y a quinze ans jour pour jour = It was fifteen years ago to the very day. Prendre jour = To agree upon a day for an appointment. Juge *De fou juge briÈve (brÈve) sentence = A fool’s bolt is soon shot. Juger Juger sur l’Étiquette du sac = To judge by appearances, by the exterior. Au juger = At a guess. Jurer Le vert jure avec le jaune = Green does not match with yellow; Green clashes with yellow. Jurer comme un templier (charretier, paÏen) = To swear like a trooper. Juste Au plus juste prix = At the lowest price. Comme de juste = Rightly enough. [LittrÉ condemns this expression as ungrammatical, giving the correct form as: comme il est juste. It is, however, almost universally used.] Justice Passer À pleines voiles À travers les mailles de la justice = To drive a coach-and-four through an Act of Parliament. [Also: Il est facile de donner une entorse À la loi.] La justice ne connaÎt personne = Justice is no respecter of persons. |
