French Idioms and Proverbs / A Companion to Deshumbert's "Dictionary of Difficulties"

by de V. Payen-Payne

[Also: Je donne ma langue aux chats.]

Nous sommes sortis entre chien et loup = We went out at dusk, between the lights.

[i.e. when you could easily mistake a wolf for a dog; or, as others say, between the time when the watch-dog is let loose and the time when the wolf comes out of the wood.]

Un chien regarde bien un évêque = A cat may look at a king.

Il fait un chien de temps (or, un temps de chien) (fam.) = It is wretched weather.

C’est saint Roch et son chien que ces deux personnes-là = These two persons are inseparable.

*Bon chien chasse de race = Like sire, like son; Cat after kind.

C’est le chien du jardinier qui ne mange pas de choux et n’en laisse pas manger aux autres = He is a dog in the manger.

Écorcher son chien pour en avoir la peau = To sacrifice something important for a small return.