Comments on: Expressions

By: Émilie

Émilie — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 19:55:30 +0000

And at that time, I did not have the web at my fingertips... Rest assured, you won't have to ask me thrice:

Passe-Carreau : Long morceau ou rouleau de bois recouvert de molleton, qui sert au repassage des coutures. (HEPWORTH, M.F., Children's Tailoring, p. 12, LYNCH, Mary and Dorothy SARA, Sewing Made Easy, p. 60, Grand Larousse Encyclopédique, p. VIII, p. 220, Manuel de couture, p. 102.). English translation: Roller

Sleep well! Check out the Grand dictionnaire terminologique of l'Office québécois de la langue française. It's a really neat reference. Thanks for that other expression, too - I hadn't heard it before. I will add it and will keep "Better safe than sorry" as well, because it is shorter and heard more often in English, I believe.

By: fv

fv — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 03:35:23 +0000

“Better safe than sorry = Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir (Better safe than nursing)”
I think a closer English expression is ‘An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” And I’ve always translated ‘guerir’ -> ‘cure’. I think they have the same root.

And if anyone can tell me what a “Passe-Carreau” is, I’ll be able to finally sleep in peace. I think I’ve already asked you this one, Emy.

By: Émilie

Émilie — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 13:17:46 +0000

Thanks Paul, I modified the post. The repeated “bird” was an editing error, unfortunately.

By: Paul

Paul — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 05:11:09 +0000

It should be, “the early bird catches the worm.” The intimation is that the late riser will find all the worms already taken.

And the translation you have for, “beggars can’t be choosers,” is actually a common english expression as well. We say, “don’t look a gift horse in the mouth.”