PRUDENCE

Qui s'y frotte s'y pique

"You better watch out" expresses the idea of this very old French proverb, which grosso modo means he who rubs himself against, will get pricked. This is also along the order of "if you play with fire, you'll get burned." 

A big thanks to my good friend, Sylvia, who contributed the photo along with the expression!

Vocabulary

frotter:  to rub

se frotter:  to rub against; to cross swords with somebody; to come up against

piquer:  to sting, to bite, to prick

se piquer:  to prick oneself

Wake up your French! Reading an illustrated French children's book is an effective and easy way to jumpstart your fluency. No matter what your age, and whether you're learning French as a second language or looking for a new book for your child, we would like to recommend Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille. It and its English version, The Rabbit and King Frog, are available worldwide on Amazon. Click on the titles to take a peek!

©2018 P. B. Lecron

DONE

Ce qui est fait n'est plus à faire

From the wisdom of an elderly and adorable French housekeeper named Félicité on the repetitiveness of household chores, "Ce qui est fait n'est plus à faire." What has been done is no longer to be done. Famous French Birman, Pompon, supervising the hand-wash, concurs. The proverb expresses the satisfaction of having finished a necessary and burdensome chore.

Vocabulary
laver à la main:  to hand wash
un lavabo:  a washbasin, hand basin, sink (but not kitchen sink which is un évier)
le lavage en machine:  the machine wash
une tâche:  a task, a chore
le ménage:  housework

©2014 P.B. Lecron

HEDGEHOG

Parez un hérisson, il semblera baron.

This 17th century French adage advises that one should never judge another according to appearances: Dress up a hedgehog and it will look like a baron.

This hedgehog can be admired in all its modest splendor on the façade near the central portal of the Cathédrale d'Amiens.

Vocabulary

un hérisson:  a hedgehog

parer:  to adorn

©2013 P.B. Lecron

NEVER TWO WITHOUT THREE

Jamais deux...

sans trois.

Never two without three, goes the old French saying, as do these donkeys in the vineyards near Patrimonio, Corsica.

Vocabulary
jamais:  never
sans:  without
un âne:  a donkey
une bourrique:  an ass

Anecdotally: see Ancient Beauty Secret: Donkey Milk 

Photos courtesy Marianne Lecron. All rights reserved.
©2012 P.B. Lecron

KEEPING WATCH

Quand le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent. --proverbe français

When the cat's away, the mice will play. --French proverb

Vocabulary

le chat:  cat

les souris:  mice

danser:  to dance

jouer:  to play

©2012 P.B. Lecron

GOOD TO THE LAST DROP

 On n'est jamais si bien servi que par soi-même.

One is never better served than by oneself. 


Pompon had no compunction about reaching down to the bottom of the water pitcher for the last few drops. Waste not, want not.

Vocabulary

une carafe d'eau:  a water pitcher

l'eau du robinet:  tap water

un broc:  a pitcher

©2012 P.B. Lecron

CHANGING COURSE

 Proverbe Breton:  Quand les mouettes ont pied, il est temps de virer.  When the seagulls wade, it's time to turn.




©2012 P.B. Lecron

IN THE NICK OF TIME

("Just a face in the crowd", Jef Aérosol 2011, pochoir sur panneau / stencil on board, 80 x 1OO cm)

JEF AEROSOL

1982 - 2012 :

30 ans de pochoir et d'art urbain

30 years of stencil art and street art

http://www.jefaerosol.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/jefaerosol/sets/

Mieux vaut tard que jamais... "better late than never," was the object heading on French urban artist and living legend Jef Aérosol's NewYear's greeting e-mailed yesterday, above. According to their code of etiquette, the French give themselves up until January 31 to send  New Year's wishes. A rule I find myself adopting. Bonne Année, Bonne Santé!

Vocabulary

les voeux de "bonne année":  wishes for a happy New Year traditionally exchanged at midnight on New Year's Eve, as well as on the days that follow

une carte de voeux:  a card sent to another expressing one's best wishes

souhaiter:  to wish

un souhait:  a wish

le nouvel an:  the new year

bonne santé:  good health

une légende vivant:  a living legend
juste à temps:  just in time

©2012 P.B. Lecron; Image posted with permission of Jef Aérosol, all rights reserved.

A NEW DIET STAPLE TREND?

Panais sold at outdoor marketplace.

Exactly one month ago I predicted that parsnips or panais, one of those forgotten winter root vegetables the French classify as a légume oublié from yesteryear, would mount in popularity and find its way to supermarket shelves here. See my earlier blogpost: Parnsips, the Next Big Thing. Despite that it was my own prediction,  I was still surprised to notice it for the first time yesterday in a grocery store--and in a hard-discount supermarché at that. Cultivated on a small scale by local producers, panais has usually been only available at public markets. That was fast!

But this was only one sighting in one store. As any right-thinking French skeptic would say, "Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps." The arrival of one swallow doesn't mean it's springtime; one shouldn't draw conclusions hastily from an isolated fact.

Hirondelle de fenêtre in the Loire; photo attribution: Fryderyk.

Vocabulary
legume: vegetable
oublié: forgotten
supermarché: supermarket
hirondelle: swallow
















©2011 P.B. Lecron