"Il faut qu'une porte soit ouverte ou fermée."
A door is necessarily either open or shut.
This French proverb is a line from a late 17th century three-act comedy, Le Grondeur (1691) by David-Augustin de Brueys and Jean de Palaprat. It's spoken by an exasperated valet to his cranky employeur who complains if the door is left open and complains if it is left shut. "Monsieur, je me ferais hacher; il faut qu'une porte soit ouverte ou fermée, choisissez; comment la voulez-vous? Choose, how do you want it?
Vocabulary
gronder: to scold; to rumble; to growl
hacher: to mince, to chop, to grind
Expression
se faire hacher: to rather die than admit one is wrong; literally to cut oneself up into tiny pieces
©2012 P.B. Lecron
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