P.
Paille
Tout y va, la paille et le blé = He spends all he has.
Il mourra sur la paille = He will die in the gutter.
Il est sur la paille = He is exceedingly poor.
Tirons à la courte paille = Let us draw lots.
*Cela enlève la paille = “That takes the cake.”
[The French is hardly as popular an expression as the English, which might be rendered in French by décrocher la timbale. Quitard derives paille from paîle, a kind of rich cloth given as a prize in athletic contests. Littré imagines it originated with amber, which has the property of raising light objects, such as straw. Madame de Sévigné writes (13th Jan. 1672): “Racine a fait une comédie qui s’appelle Bajazet et qui enlève la paille.” The English expression is said to come from the custom of negroes, when giving a ball, to provide a cake to be given to the best-dressed couple. The competitors walk round and are judged by the other guests. Hence the term cake-walk.]