Insights and Idioms in French and English
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Diverses idées et expressions idiomatiques en Français et Anglais
(L'éléphant n'est certainement pas dans la pièce...) The elephant is definitely
not in the room... but in the china shop!
The English say: ‘A bull in a china shop’. The French say: ‘An elephant in a
china shop’. (Comme un éléphant dans un magasin de porcelaine). The English
bull, is more vivid. An elephant is too slow and static. It does not create the
idea of twisting and turning havoc that a bull would wreck. Result: England
win.
This expression set me off wondering whether the difference between French
and English idiosyncratic idioms give one any special insight into the national
and moral characteristics of these countries.
To continue with elephants: more specifically: white elephants. In French this
might translate as: (Une etalage de bibelots), a sort of display of unwanted
knick-knacks. This does not quite have the English meaning of something
valuable but unwanted. Conclusion: the French are not good with elephants.
Then there’s the whole business of cats and dogs in these languages. ‘A cat
can look at a King’ translates as: (Un chien regarde bien un eveque). In
France, they still look to the Church because the Monarchy lost their heads.
This expression also implies that in France a dog is a lowlier animal than a cat.
Does this make sense? Are not the beloved pooches (les clebs/cabots) of
France very spoilt? And as for their owners... allowing their little darlings to
leave behind their riddance’s (crottes de chien). Spoilt Parisian pooches (tous
les bébés et pompon cheris) have their own Art Nouveau cemetery.
Then there’s the raffish (chic) bistro dog, I kid you not (sans blague) with its own
seat in a restaurant! So I am surprised, when the country loves dogs so much,
why do the poor mutts not get a better press? Think about: ‘Let sleeping
dogs lie’. (Il ne faut pas réveiller un chat qui dort). What have we here but
another instance of cat favouritism!
‘Cat got your tongue!’ In French: (Donner sa longue au chat). Why you would
want to give your tongue to a cat is somewhat puzzling. It means presumably
that you can’t think of an answer. Perhaps... (Tu as avalé ta langue?) is the
more accurate translation. The English idiom is more brutal: one pictures a
rampant moggie (un minou effréné) fur bristling, springing into the face of an
open mouthed owner and seizing their tongue. Truly horrifying and X
certificate mute making indeed! An easy win for England.
‘Curiosity killed the cat’ translates as: (La curiosité est un vilain default).
Does this mean that in France ‘curiosity’ is not dangerous (as in the English)
but a bad and immoral fault? A French win as this is a more sophisticated
conclusion. (Il y a plus d’une facon d’accommoder un lapin) ‘There’s more
than one way to skin a cat’ and that in France one skins bunnies. A win for all
cat lovers in France!
In England we say: ‘Ne’er cast a clout ‘till May be out.’ It is somewhat
contentious as to what a ‘clout’ means. Usually, people take it to mean an
item of clothing but because ‘cast’ has to do with ploughing and the soil, it is
possibly an agricultural term. Some believe it to mean: don’t discard any item
of clothing until the May Tree blossom is out. Although similar expressions in
Spanish are always about discarding clothes. In French: (En avril ne te
découvres pas d'un fil, en mai, fais ce qui te plait). ‘In April, don’t get rid of
even a vestige of clothing but in May do what you like’. The French saying
just shades it with those nice three rhymes at the end. So the French (hardy
souls) are a month ahead of us. But I wonder whether the citizens of the chilly Nord-Pas-de-Calais would ere on the side of the safer (‘till May be out)
English version. Narrow French win
Now what about a ‘dog-rose’ or the much more beautiful: (une eglantine).
But nothing is simple. Is an eglantine rose not also Rosa rubiginosa? or what is
called, ‘sweet briar’? And is not sweet briar the equal of ‘eglantine’ in beauty?
And what an enchanting scent after: ‘April showers make May flowers’:
(D’avril les ondées, font les fleurs de mai) The English is prosaic but the
French expression is very beautiful.
Sorry, vegetarians, but I do love the French idiom: (Manger de la vache
enragée ). Literally, to eat the meat of the rabid cow but meaning, I think: ‘To
live from hand to mouth’ or ‘To have a rough time’.
Now ‘once in a blue moon’ I might get the winner of the Derby or the Arc de
Triomphe but in France would I ever be paid out? Because... (Alors, tous les
trente-six du mois, je gagnerais réellement le Derby et l'Arc). What on earth
does it mean? Is it referring to the fourth new moon in a season which is very
unusual so therefore the date the thirty-sixth of the month is impossible or
does it have something to do with the French Revolutionary calendar?
‘Grass is always greener on the other side’. You don’t see the negative
aspects of this patch of green because... your eyes are not so good these
days... the smart little piece of garden furniture is covering a nasty bit
of...(crottes de clebs). As is their way, the French are more specific and
literal. (L'herbe est toujours plus verte chez le voisin). As is well known there
is much enmity between neighbours in France. Result: English idealistic
vagueness gives win to French exactitude.
Now those darned cats are back again! What about: (Appeller un chat un
chat) ‘To call a spade a spade’. Here the English wins as it is much blunter!
(Acheter chat en poche) ‘To buy a pig in a poke’. Let the buyer beware!
Poche is formed from old French ‘poque’. (Avoir d'autres chats à fouetter)
means literally: ‘To have other cats to whip’ or idiomatically: ‘To have other
fish to fry’. Poor puss. Contact the RSPCA immediately!
After putting all this
together, I feel quite knackered. (Je suis nase-broque!) But no time for ‘my
catnap’ (ma petite sieste) as ‘her indoors’ calls. I do not know how the French
would translate this, possibly: (ma patronne?)
(Il faut que j’y aille. Le diner est sur la table). Must go. Dinner’s ready. (Alors, mon bébé en sucre! Qu’est-ce qui se mijote, ce soir?) ‘Sweetie! What
have you rustled up, tonight?’
‘Cold quiche? Ah well, life’s not a bowl of cherries.’ (la vie n’est pas toujours
rose) or the more poetic: (la vie n’est pas un long fleuve tranquille)
ooo
