Mener les gens à la baguette = To rule men with a rod of iron; To be a martinet.
Baiser
Il y a toujours l’un qui baise et l’autre qui tend la joue = Love is never exactly reciprocal.
[Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida, iv. 5.]
Baisser
Baisser l’oreille = To look confused (or, sheepish.)
[From the action of dogs when expecting a beating.]
Ma vue baisse = I am getting short-sighted; My sight is failing.
[In this sense baisser means to weaken, and is also used of moral and intellectual qualities, as: le sens moral a baissé, ma mémoire baisse.]