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

by de V. Payen-Payne

Il fait des demandes par dessus les maisons = He makes most unreasonable demands.

Maître

*Tel maître, tel valet = Like master, like man.

[Or: Tel couteau, tel fourreau.

German: Wie der Herr, so der Knecht.]

C’est une maîtresse femme = She is a superior woman.

[One who manages her business or subordinates capably, makes her servants obey her and do their work well, and is respected by them.]

Mal

*À qui mal veut, mal arrive = Harm watch, harm catch; Curses, like chickens, come home to roost.

[This proverb is said to be of Turkish origin. The Spanish equivalent is: “Who sows thorns, let him not walk barefoot.” Comp. Psalms cix. 17.]