A bon demandeur bon refuseur. Fr. must have shameful nay." prov.-" Shameless craving A bon entendeur il ne faut que demie parole. Fr. prov.-"A word is enough to the wise;" literally, "To one of quick apprehension half a word is sufficient." The Italians say, "A buon intenditor poche parole," which has about the same meaning. A bon entendeur peu de paroles, or, A bon entendeur salut. Fr. prov.-"To a good, an attentive, hearer, but few words are necessary." A word to the wise. A bon vin il ne faut point de bouchon. Fr. prov.-" Good wine needs no bush." A brebis tondue, Dieu mesure le vent. Fr.-"God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." A cader va, chi troppo alto sale. Ital. prov.-" Hasty climbers have sudden falls.' وو A capite ad calcem. Lat." From head to foot." Thoroughly, completely. From the beginning to the end. A causa persa parole assai. Ital. prov.-"When the cause, lawsuit, is lost, there has been enough of words, enough has been said." Do not discuss what has already been decided-settled. A chaque oiseau Son nid est beau. Fr. prov. "Every bird thinks its own nest, finds its own nest, beautiful." See "Ad ogni uccello," &c. A chi consiglia, non duole il capo. Ital. prov.-"He who gives advice is not often troubled with a head-ach." A cœur jeûn. Fr.-"Fasting." A cœur ouvert. Fr.-" Openly; open-heartedly; with the most perfect candour, or unreservedness." A contre cœur. Fr.-"Against the grain; against one's will; with a bad grace." A cuspide corona. Lat.- "A crown from the spear." Honour! earned by military exploits: in other words, by legally blowing one's fellow-creatures' brains out, or running them through. "If Christian nations," said SOAME JENYNS, "were nations of Christians, there would be no wars. ' "War is a game, which, were their subjects wise, Kings could not play at."-CowPER. "The worse the man, the better the soldier; if soldiers be not corrupt, they ought to be made so."-Bonaparte. I abominate war as unchristian. I hold it the greatest of human crimes. I deem it to involve all others-violence, blood, rapine, fraud; everything, that can deform the character, alter the nature, and debase the name of man. ."-LORD BROUGHAM. On the subject of Honour there is more philosophy in FALSTAFF'S soliloquy, than many casual readers have discovered: "Well, 'tis no matter; Honour pricks me on. Yea, but how if Honour prick me off, when I come on? how then? Can Honour set a leg? No. Or an arm? No. Or take away the grief of a wound? No. Honour hath no skill in surgery, then? No. What is Honour? A word. What is that word Honour? Air. A trim reckoning! Who hath it? He that died o' Wednesday. Doth he feel it? No. Doth he hear it? No. Is it insensible, then? Yea, to the dead. But will it not live with the living? No. Why? Detraction will not suffer it-therefore, I'll none of it! Honour is a mere scutcheon; and so ends my catechism.”—First Part of Henry IV. A facto ad jus non datur consequentia. Lat. Law Maxim."The inference from the fact to the law is not allowed." A general law is not to be trammelled by a specific or particular precedent. A fome he boa mostarda. Port. prov.-"Hunger is the best sauce." Literally, "Hunger is capital, good, mustard.” A fortiori. Lat-"With stronger or greater reason. "9 If a weak man be dangerous, it follows, a fortiori, that a weak and bad man must be more dangerous. A fronte praecipitium, a tergo lupi. Lat. prov.-"A precipice in front of you, and wolves behind you, in your rear." Go forward, and fall: go backward, and mar all. A gorge déployée. Fr "Immoderately, to or in an immoderate degree." A poor pleasantry, by the help of some ludicrous turn, or expression, or association of ideas, may provoke cachinnation [roars of laughter] "A gorge déployée," that is, sufficient to split the sides. A goupil endormi rien ne tombe en la gueule. Old Fr. "A close mouth catcheth no flies." prov. A grands frais. Fr.-"At great expense; very expensively." Sumptuously. A grand seigneur peu de paroles. Fr. prov.-"In addressing a man of distinguished rank, express yourself in few words, as briefly as possible." A gusto. Ital.-"To one's heart's content." A haute voix. Fr.-"Loudly, openly." A l'abri. Fr.-" Sheltered, under cover." A l'aise marche à pied qui mène son cheval par la bride. Fr. prov.-""Tis good to go on foot when a man hath a horse in his hand." A l'antique. Fr.-" After or according to the old way or fashion." A l'impossible nul n'est tenu. Fr. prov.-"There is no flying without wings; there is no doing impossibilities." A l'improviste. Fr.-" Unawares; on a sudden; unexpectedly." A l'ongle on connaît le lion. Fr.-" The lion is known by his paw." A la barba de pazzi, il barbier impara a radere. Ital. prov."A barber learns to shave by shaving fools." A la belle étoile. Fr.-"In the street, in the open air." A la bonne heure! Fr.-"Well and good; very well; so be it; be it so!" A la dérobée. Fr.-"By stealth; stealthily; on the sly; secretly; privately." A la faim il n'y a point de mauvais pain. Fr. prov.-" With hunger no bread is nasty." Hungry dogs will eat dirty puddings. A la francaise. Fr.-" After or according to the French fashion." A la immortalidad el alma asida. Span. LOPE DE VEGA.-"The soul aspires to immortality." A la lettre. Fr.-"Word for word, literally." A loisir. Fr.—“ At leisure; leisurely; at one's own convenience." A longue corde tire qui d'autrui mort désire. Fr. prov."He who is anxious for the death of another has a long rope to pull." He that waits for dead men's shoes may go long enough barefoot. A los osados ayuda la fortuna. Span. prov.-"Fortune helps, assists, the daring." Faint heart never won fair lady. A main armée. Fr.-" Armed; in arms; with open force; by force of arms.' A mensa et thoro. Lat.-" From table and bed, or, as we say in English, from bed and board." A sentence of divorce, or separation of man and wife, issuing from the Consistorial Court, on account of acts of adultery which may have been substantiated against either party. A merveille. Fr.-" Admirably well; wonderfully well; wondrous well." He executed his part à merveille. A mon avis. Fr.-" In my opinion.' A multo fortiori. Lat.- "On much stronger grounds; with much stronger or greater reason." A numine salus. Lat.-“ Salvation, health of body or mind, protection, is from the Deity, from on high." LORD MANSFIELD, being told of the above motto on the carriage of a very noted quack, thus translated it: GOD help the patient!' A outrance. Fr.-"To the utmost; with tooth and nail; with might and main; out and out; with desperation." "A champion has started up, not only to avouch the purity of her general morals, but also to maintain à outrance her innocence of the great offence:" that is to say, to the utmost, in the strongest terms, the most decided terms or manner, her innocence, &c. N.B. Instead of à outrance, as above, or, à toute outrance, which is a stronger form, the incorrect form à l'outrance is nearly always used by English writers. A pas de géant. Fr.-"With a giant's stride." This is a phrase of exaggeration not uncommon with our continental neighbours. They will say, for instance, "We have hitherto advanced with a slow pace, but slowly; but now we shall proceed à pas de géant [with gigantic steps], and come sturdily and fairly to the purpose." cr A peu près. Fr. Very nearly; almost; thereabouts." produce is peu près a seventh less." A pied. Fr.-"On foot." The -use A la portée de tout le monde. Fr.-"Within reach of every one, attainable by everybody." We may be laughed at for our passion for these old etiquettes, but, like MILTON, we cannot separate the monarchy from its trappings; the hoop was, it is true, a mere court ceremony,less, expensive, inconvenient, as an ordinary dress, but is it not the essence of a ceremony to be all that? If a thing be useful, economical, and convenient, it is for every-day wear,-ceremonies ought not to be quite à la portée de tout le monde: if hoops are abolished for the ladies, why are men obliged to wear bags, and laced coats, and swords-all much more useless, if there can be degrees in inutility-than the prohibited hoops? But it is idle to dwell on such trifles: we observe them merely as tokens and harbingers; the leaves fall before the tree dies!" N.B. The phrase is often used to signify, comprehensible; understandable by everybody, every one; intelligible to every one. A posteriori. Lat.-"From the latter." A priori. Lat." 'From the former, in the first instance." "I have demonstrably proved that the argument a priori and the argument a posteriori are one and the same process of ratiocination! [reasoning]." "A priori" means, from the former, from the cause to the effect: "A posteriori" means, from the latter, from the effect to the cause. These are phrases, which are used in logical argument, to denote a reference to its different modes. The schoolmen distinguished them into the propter quod [on account of which], wherein an effect is proved from the next cause--as when it is proved that the moon is eclipsed, because the earth is then between the sun and the moon. The second is the quia [because], wherein the cause is proved from a remote effect-as that plants do not breathe because they are not animals; or, that there is a GOD from the works of the creation. The former of these is called demonstration a priori—the latter, demonstration a posteriori. A propos. Fr.-"To the purpose; opportunely; seasonably; pertinently." A propos de bottes. Fr.-"Without reason, for nothing." A phrase used proverbially, when, in the course of conversation, one passes from one subject to another that has no reference to it. It is then equivalent to our "By-the-bye; now I think on't; now you put me in mind of it." A propos de bottes, comment se porte monsieur votre père? By-the-bye, how is your father? A quelque chose malheur est bonne. Fr. prov.-" Misfortune is good for something, is not always an evil, is not always thrown away." "Tis an ill wind that blows nobody luck. A qui chapon mange, chapon lui vient. Fr. prov.comes to him who eats capon."-Spend, and GOD will send. ---- "Capon A quoi bon tant barguigner, et tant tourner autour du pot? Fr.-"To what purpose is, of what use is, so much humming and hawing, and beating about the bush?" A tavola ronda non si contende del luogo. Ital. prov.-" At a round table there's no dispute about place." A tergo. Lat.-"Behind; at one's back; in the rear." A tort et à droit. Fr.-"Right or wrong." A tort et à travers. Fr.-"At random; without discretion; with out due consideration; making a mull of a thing." A tort ou à droit. Fr.-"Reason or none.' A tous oiseaux leurs nids sont beaux. Fr. prov.-“ All birds like their own nests." A tout propos. Fr.-"At every turn, ever and anon." A toutes jambes. Fr.-" As fast as one's legs can carry one." A tutiori. Lat.-"The safer side to take." A vieux comptes nouvelles disputes. Fr. prov.-"Old reckonings cause new disputes, fresh strife." The English proverb is, "Short reckonings make long friends. Even reckoning keeps long friends." A verbis legis non est recedendum. Lat. Law maxim.-"There is no departing from the words of the law." The judges are not to make any interpretation contrary to the express words of the statute. A vinculo matrimonii. Lat.-"From the chain, bond, bonds, or tie of marriage, matrimony." Aad jold, aad hae, aad brae, stiel ien wol to stae. Frisian.— "Old gold, old bread, and fine old hay Are well indeed by one to stay." Ab actu ad posse valet consecutio. Lat.-" The induction is good, from what has been to what may be." By this logical maxim it is meant to state that when a thing has once happened it is but just to infer that such a matter may again occur. Ab alio expectes alteri quod feceris. Lat. LABERIUS.-"You may expect from one person that which you have done to another."-Your conduct to others will form the measure of your own expectations. Ab ante. Lat.-"Beforehand." Ab asino lanam. Lat. prov.-"Wool from an ass." An impossibility. Ab equinis pedibus procul recede. Lat. prov.-"Keep at a good distance from horses' feet." Trust not a horse's heel, nor a dog's tooth. Ab equis ad asinos. Lat. prov.-"From horses to asses." To come from little good to stark naught. Ab extra. Lat.-"From without." Ab inconvenienti. Lat. phrase.-"From the inconvenience." Argumentum ab inconvenienti, An argument to show that the result of a proposed measure will prove inconvenient or unsuited to circumstances. Ab incunabulis. Lat.-"From the very cradle." Ab initio. Lat. phrase.-"From the beginning; from the very beginning; the very first." "His proceedings were ill-founded ab initio." Ab integro. Lat." Afresh, anew." N.B. We may also say integro," to express the same idea. |