Je ne fais que toucher barres = I am off again immediately.
J’ai barres sur lui = I have an advantage over him; I have the whip-hand (the pull) over him.
[Expressions taken from the game of barres, or prisoner’s base.]
Bas
*A porte basse, passant courbé = One must bow to circumstances.
Il se retira l’oreille basse = He went away with his tail between his legs.
Les vainqueurs firent main basse sur les biens des habitants = The victors pillaged the town.
Rester chapeau bas = To stand hat in hand.
Il m’a traité de haut en bas = He treated me contemptuously.
Bât
Vous ne savez pas où le bât le blesse = You do not know where the shoe pinches him.
[“Je sçay mieux où le bas me blesse.” Maistre Pierre Pathelin, l. 1357. Bât = pack-saddle. Compare the German: Jeder weiss am besten wo ihn der Schuh drückt.
The phrase first appears in Plutarch’s Life of Æmilius Paullus. A certain Roman having forsaken his wife, her friends fell out with him and asked what fault he found in her; was she not faithful and fair, and had she not borne him many beautiful children? He replied by putting forth his foot and saying: “Is not this a goodly shoe? Is it not finely made, and is it not new? And yet I dare say there is not one of you can tell where it pinches me.”]
Bataillon
Inconnu au bataillon (fam.) = I don’t know him; No one knows him.
Bataille
C’était une bataille rangée = It was a pitched battle.
Cet argument est son cheval de bataille = That argument is his stronghold; That is his great argument.
Bateau
Arriver en trois bateaux = To come with great fuss, in great state, with unnecessary ceremony.
[This expression is usually used sarcastically; it originates from great personages or rich merchant-men being accompanied by ships of war. Compare Rabelais, i. 16, and La Fontaine, Fables, ix. 3. Le léopard et le singe qui gagnent de l’argent à la foire.]
Bâton
Il travaille à bâtons rompus = He works by fits and starts.
Conversation à bâtons rompus = Desultory talk.
Il cherchait à nous mettre des bâtons dans les roues = He tried to put a spoke in our wheel.
Le tour du bâton = Perquisites, illicit profits.
Ce sera mon bâton de vieillesse = He will be my support (consolation) in my old age.
Battre
Il lui a battu froid = He gave him the cold shoulder.
[Comp. “Majorum ne quis amicus frigore te feriat.”—Horace, Sat., ii. 1.]
Battre la campagne = 1. (lit.) To scour the country. 2. (fig.) To talk nonsense. 3. (of invalids) To wander. 4. To beat about the bush.
Battre la breloque (berloque) = To talk nonsense.
Battre le pavé = 1. To loaf about. 2. To wander about in search for work.
Tout battant neuf = All brand new.
Battre le chien devant le loup = To pretend to be angry with one person to deceive another.
Avoir les yeux battus = To look tired about the eyes.
La fête battait son plein = The entertainment was at its height.
Battre quelqu’un à plate couture = To beat some one hollow.
[Literally, to beat some one so hard and thoroughly, as to flatten the seams (coutures) of his coat.]
*Les battus payent l’amende = The weakest go to the wall; Those who lose pay.
L’un bat les buissons et l’autre prend les oiseaux = One does the work and the other reaps the advantage; One man starts the game and another kills it.
*Autant vaut bien battu que mal battu = As well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb; In for a penny, in for a pound. (See Chien.)
Baume
Je n’ai pas foi dans son baume = I have no faith in his plan.
Bavette
Quand les femmes sont ensemble, elles taillent des bavettes à n’en plus finir = When women get together they indulge in endless gossip.
Beau
Coucher à la belle étoile = To sleep out of doors.
Déchirer quelqu’un à belles dents = To criticise some one mercilessly; To tear a person’s reputation to shreds.
Il fera beau quand je retournerai chez lui = It will be a very fine day when I go to his house again (i.e. I shall never go).
Voir tout en beau = To see everything through rose-coloured spectacles. (See Noir.)
Faire le beau = (of dogs) To beg.
Il y a beau temps que je ne vous ai (pas) vu = I have not seen you for many a day.
J’en entends de belles sur votre compte = I hear nice goings-on of you.
Il en a fait de belles = He played nice tricks (ironic).
Il vous en conte de belles = He is telling you fine tales; He is taking you in finely.
Vous me la donnez (or, baillez) belle (ironic.) = A pretty tale you are telling me; Aren’t you stuffing me up nicely?
Ce que vous proposez est bel et bon, mais je n’en ferai rien = What you propose is all very fine, but I shall do no such thing.
Être dans de beaux draps = To be in a pretty pickle (ironic).
Vous l’avez échappé belle = You have had a narrow escape (or, shave).
Il a beau parler, il ne me convaincra pas = It is of no use for him to speak, he will not convince me; Let him say what he will, he will not convince me.
[The origin of this use of beau is obscure. Larousse suggests the origin may be in the idea of having a fine field for operations, which will be of no value, as our: “it is all very fine for me to speak.”]
Il recommença de plus belle = He began again worse than ever.
Vous avez beau jeu = 1. (lit.) You have good cards. 2. (fig.) You have the advantage.
*La belle plume fait le bel oiseau = Fine feathers make fine birds.
Se mettre au beau = (of the weather) To clear up.
Jouer la belle = To play the rubber (or third game, to see which of the players is the conqueror).
Beaucoup
*Beaucoup de bruit pour rien = Much ado about nothing.
Beauté
La beauté ne se mange pas en salade = Beauty does not fill the larder; Prettiness makes no pottage.
Bec
Il m’a tenu le bec dans l’eau