Amuser
Amuser le tapis = To talk a great deal without coming to the point; To talk time away.
Ne vous amusez pas en route = Do not lose an instant on the way.
An
Je m’en moque comme de l’an quarante = I don’t care a straw for it.
[There was a superstition that the world would come to an end in 1040; after it had passed, this saying arose. The French also say “Je m’en moque comme de Colin-tampon.” Colin-tampon is the name given to the Swiss roll of the drum; and as the other soldiers in the French army paid no attention to it out of jealousy and esprit de corps, this saying arose. Another variant is “Je m’en soucie autant qu’un poisson d’une pomme.”]
Bon an, mal an = One year with another; On an average.
Âne
Ressembler à l’âne de Buridan = Not to know what to do.
[Jean Buridan was a dialectician of the fourteenth century, and Rector of the University of Paris. One of his most famous dilemmas was that of the donkey equally hungry and thirsty, which was placed halfway between a pail of water and a load of hay. If the animal had no free-will, it would remain motionless between two equal attractions, and so die of hunger and thirst.]