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Do you know these French maxims?

2021-10-26T05:08:23.540Z


QUIZ - “By fingernail we know the lion”, “to each saint his candle” ... Can you find the meaning of these sayings? Check it with this Figaro test.


We do not always know where they come from, or who once said them.

It doesn't matter.

Maxims are part of our heritage.

These expressions setting out a rule of conduct or a moral rule sometimes take three or four words:

"To good cat, good rat"

,

"to old mule golden brake"

,

"of mad judge, prompt sentence"

... They look like of magic formulas.

Each situation of daily life can be illustrated with these sayings, aphorisms and proverbs.

To discover

  • Passionate about word games?

    Discover the Figaro games app

Do you know why we say

“it doesn't eat bread”

?

In the 17th century, when the expression appeared, bread was one of the staples of the diet.

The budget of low-income families was therefore organized according to its consumption.

When we said

"it does not eat bread"

, it meant that what we were about to buy was not going to encroach on the sum dedicated to the purchase of bread, according to

Do you know the meaning of these maxims which punctuate the French language?

Le Figaro invites

you to check it with this short test.

Will you get 10/10?

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-10-26

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