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

by de V. Payen-Payne

Bile

Ne pas se faire de bile (fam.) = To take things easily.

Billet

Un billet de faire part = A letter by which a birth, marriage, or death is made known to friends.

[Cards are used in England for marriages and deaths.]

Un billet doux = A love letter.

*Ah! le bon billet qu’a La Châtre = Promises are like pie-crust, made to be broken.

[The Marquis de la Châtre was the lover of the celebrated Ninon de l’Enclos (1616-1706). When he was obliged to go off to the wars, he made her write him a letter promising to remain faithful to him. On taking another lover, she remembered the letter she had written, and uttered these words, which have become proverbial for any worthless promise.]

Blanc

J’ai passé une nuit blanche = I have not slept a wink all night.