Payer la folle enchère = To pay for one’s rashness, for one’s folly.
[When a man bids at an auction and does not pay for what he has bought, the lot is put up again and he has to pay the difference (if any) between the price it is then sold at and the price he bid for it.]
Enchère au rabais = A Dutch auction.
Enclume
Je suis entre l’enclume et le marteau = I am in a dilemma; I am between the devil and the deep sea.
*Il frappe toujours sur la même enclume = He is always harping on the same string.
*A dure enclume marteau de plume = The strokes of adversity find the wise man unmoved.
[“Impavidum ferient ruinae.”
Horace, Odes, iii. 3.]
Endroit
Frapper au bon endroit = To touch the right spring; To hit the right nail on the head; To hit the mark; To touch the spot.