*“À chacun son métier et les vaches seront bien gardées” (Florian, Fables, i. 12) = Let the cobbler stick to his last.
[“Ne sutor ultra crepidam” (judicet).]
Mettre
Mettez cent francs = Make it £4.
Il se mettrait en quatre pour ses amis = He would do anything for his friends.
Il se met bien = He dresses well.
On veut nous mettre dedans (fam.) = They want to entrap us, to take us in.
Midi
Chercher midi à quatorze heures = To make (or, seek) difficulties where there are none; To look for grapes on thorns.
[This expression has its origin in the old custom, still in use in some parts of Italy, of reckoning the hours of the day consecutively from 1 to 24, beginning at sunset. Hence, noon may vary from the 16th to the 20th hour, but is never the 14th. Voltaire’s epigram for a sun-dial is very well known, but may bear repetition:—
“Vous qui vivez dans ces demeures,
Êtes-vous bien? tenez-vous y,
Et n’allez pas chercher midi
À quatorze heures.”]