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

by de V. Payen-Payne

Gaieté

De gaieté de cœur = Out of pure wantonness.

Gaillard

Être sur le gaillard d’avant = To serve before the mast; To be a common seaman.

Galère

Vogue la galère! = Happen what may! “Go it, ye cripples!”

*“Que diable allait-il faire dans cette galère?” = Whatever induced him to get into that fix? Whatever business had he there?

[Molière, Fourberies de Scapin, ii. II, imitated from a scene of Le Pédant joué by Cyrano de Bergerac, as is noted by M. Edmond Rostand in his play, “Cyrano de Bergerac,” v. 6:

Rag. Hier on jouait Scapin
Et j’ai vu qu’il vous a pris une scène.
Le Bret. Entière!
Rag. Oui, Monsieur, le fameux: “Que diable allait-il faire?”