178. Li manque lagale pour gratté. (Il [ne] manque [que] de gale pour se gratter. [Lit. In good French: Il ne lui manque que la gale, etc.])
“He only wants the itch so that he may scratch himself.” Said of a man who has all that his heart can wish for.[70]—[Mauritius.]
[70] We have a singular expression in Louisiana: “Li metté mantec dans so faillots. (He puts lard in his beans.”) That is to say, “He is well off.” Mantec is a Creolised form of the Spanish manteca, used in Spanish-America to signify lard.
179. Li pour marié; més qulquefois bague mariaze glisse dans lédoight. (Il doit se marier; mais quelquefois la bague de mariage glisse du doigt.)
“He is to be married, they say; but sometimes the marriage-ring slips from one’s finger.”[71]—[Mauritius.]
[71] “There’s many a slip twixt the cup and the lip.”
180. Li soule bontemps. (Il se soûle de bon temps.)
“He is drunk with doing nothing.”—[Mauritius.]
181. Liane yame ka marré yame. (La liane du yam lie [lit. amarre] le yam.)
“The yam-vine ties the yam.”[72]—[Trinidad.]