Annexe:Liste de proverbes anglais
Les proverbes anglais ont été compilés par Ronald Ridout & Clifford Witting en 1969. C'est un recueil des proverbes les plus utilisés aujourd'hui. Certains proverbes en anglais ont leur équivalent en français. Chaque proverbe à un sens et un but bien précis.
Le sens d'un proverbe donné dans le Advanced Leaner's Dictionnary of Current English.
Sommaire |
[modifier] Les proverbes
[modifier] A
0. A friend in need is a friend indeed (C'est dans le besoin qu'on reconnaît ses amis)
1. Absence makes the heart grow fonder (Loin des yeux, loin du cœur)
2. Accidents will happen in the best-regulated families
3. Actions speak louder than words (Les actions en disent plus que les mots)
4. Adam's ale is the best brew
5. Advice when most needed is least heeded
6. After a storm comes a calm (Après l'orage vient le calme)
7. All are not thieves that dogs bark at
8. All cats are grey in the dark (La nuit, tous les chats sont gris)
9. All good things come to an end (Toutes bonnes choses ont une fin)
10. All's fair in love and war (En amour comme à la guerre, tous les coups sont permis)
11. All's fish that comes to the net
12. All's well that ends well (Tout est bien qui finit bien)
13. All lay loads on a willing horse
14. All roads lead to Rome (Tous les chemins mènent à Rome)
15. All that glitters is not gold (Tout ce qui brille n'est pas d'or)
16. All things are difficult before they are easy (Toutes les choses sont difficiles avant d'être faciles)
17. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
18. Any port in storm
19. Appearances are deceptive (Les apparences sont trompeuses)
20. The apples on the other side of the wall are the sweetest
21. Art is long, life is short (L'art est long, la vie est courte)
22. As well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb
23. As you make your bed, so you must lie in it (Comme on fait son lit, on se couche)
24. As you sow, so shall you reap (Quand le vin est tiré, il faut le boire)
25. Ask no questions and he told no lies (Ne lui demande rien et il ne ne mentiras point)
26. Avoid a questioner, for he is also a tattler
[modifier] B
27. Bad news travels fast (Les nouvelles vont vite)
28. A bad penny always come back
29. A bad shearer never had a good sickle
30. A bad workman always blames his tools (Un mauvais ouvrier critique toujours ses outils)
31. The bait hides the hook
32. Barking dogs seldom bite (Chien qui aboie ne mord pas)
33. Be just before you are generous
34. The beaten road is the safest
35. Beauty is but skin deep (La beauté n'est pas tout)
36. Beauty is in the eye of the beholder (Il n'y a pas de laides amours)
37. Beggars must not be choosers
38. The best fish swim near the bottom
39. Best is cheapest
40. The best is often the enemy of the good (Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien)
41. The best of friends must part
42. Batter an egg today than a hen tomorrow
43. Better be a fool than a knave
44. Better be an old man's darling than a young man's slave
45. Better be sure than sorry
46. Better be the head of a dog than the tail of a lion
47. Better bend than break
48. Better late than never (Mieux vaut tard que jamais)
49. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't know
50. Better to ask the way than go astray
51. Between two schools you fall to the ground
52. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush (Un « tiens » vaut mieux que deux « tu l'auras »)
53. Birds in their little nests agree
54. Birds of a feather flock together (Qui se ressemble s'assemble)
55. The bitter is sometimes bit
56. Blessed is he who expects nothing, for he shall never be disappointed
57. Blood is thicker than water
58. Books ans friends should be few but good
59. Boy will be boys (Les hommes seront des hommes)
60. Bread is the staff of life
61. Brevity is the soul of wit
62. The bull must be taken by the horns
63. A bully is always a coward
64. Burn not your house to fright the mouse away
65. A burnt child dreads the fire (Chat échaudé craint l'eau froide)
66. Busiest men find the most time
[modifier] C
67. Call a spade a spade (Il faut appeler un chat un chat)
68. Call no man happy till he is dead
69. Care(curiosity) killed a cat (La curiosité est un vilain défaut)
70. Cast ne'er a clout till May is out
71. Cast not the first stone
72. A cat has nine lives (Un chat a neuf vies)
74. Catch as catch can
75. Catch not at the shadow and lose the substance
76. Catch your bear before you sell its skin (Il ne faut pas vendre la peau de l'ours avant de l'avoir tué)
77. Caveat emptor
78. Charity begins at home (Charité bien ordonnée commence par soi-même, La charité commence chez soi)
79. Charity covers a multitude of sins
80. Find the woman
81. The child is father of the man
82. Children should be seen and not heard
83. Christmas comes but once a year
84. Circumstances alter cases
85. Cleanliness is next to godliness
86. Clothes do not make the man (L'habit ne fait pas le moine)
87. Coming events cast their shadows before
88. Comparisons are odious
89. Conscience does make cowards of us all
90. Constant dripping wears away the stone
91. A constant guest is never welcome
92. A contented mind is a perpetual feast
93. The course of true love never did run smooth
94. Courtesy costs nothing
95. Cowards die many times before their deaths
96. The cowl not make the monk (L'habit ne fait pas le moine)
97. A creaking gate hangs long
98. Cross the stream where it is shallowest
99. Curses, like chickens, come home to roost
100. Custom makes all things easy
101. Custom reconciles us to everything
102. Cut you coat according to your cloth
[modifier] D
103. The darknest hour is that before the dawn
104. Dead men tell no tales (Morte la bête, mort le venin)
105. Death is the great leveller
106. Deeds, not words
107. Desert and reward seldom keep company
108. Desires are nourished by delays
109. Desperate diseases must have desperate remedies
110. The devil can cite Scripture for his purpose
111. The devil finds work for idle hands to do
112. The devil is not so black as he is painted
113. The devil take the hind most
114. The devil was sick...
115. Diamond cut diamond
116. Discontent is the first step in progress
117. Discretion is the better part of valour
118. Distance lends enchantment to the view
119. Do as I say, not as I do (Fais ce que je dit, non ce que je fais)
120. Do as most men do, then most men will speak well of you
121. Do as you would be done by
122. Do not cast your pearls before swine
123. Don't change horses in mid-stream
124. Don't count your chickens before they are hatched
125. Don't cross a bridge till you come to it
126. Don't cry before you are hurt
127. Don't cry stinking fish
128. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face
129. Don't cut the bough you are standing on
130. Don't empty the baby out with the bath water
131. Do not haloo you are out of the wood
132. Don't have too many irons in the fire
133. Do not kick against the pricks
134. Don't make a mountain out of a molehill
135. Don't make a rod for your own back
136. Don't make yourself a mouse, or the cat will eat you
137. Don't meet trouble half-way
138. Don't outrun the constable
139. Don't pour out the dirty water before you have clean
140. Don't put all your eggs in one basket (Il ne faut pas mettre tout ses œufs dans le même panier)
141. Do not put new wine into old bottles
142. Don't bark, if you can't bite (Si tu ne peux mordre, ne montre pas tes dents)
[modifier] E
143. Early to go to bed, and early to rise, make a man wealthy and wise (Se coucher tôt, se lever tôt, c'est amasser santé et sagesse)
144. Every bird must hatch her own eggs
145. Every bean has its black
146. Every one must live by his calling
147. Ever drunk, ever dry
148. Early to go to bed, and early to rise, make a man healty, wealthy, and wise
149. Early sow, early mow
150. Experience is the mistress of fools (Tête légère n'apprend rien que par expérience)
[modifier] F
- forewarned is forearmed = Un homme averti en vaut deux
[modifier] G
- give some and keep the rest = Donne l'os au chien pour qu'il ne convoite pas ta viande
[modifier] H
[modifier] I
- it never rains but it pours = Un malheur ne vient jamais seul
- it’s better to be a hammer than a nail = Il vaut mieux être le marteau que l'enclume
[modifier] J
[modifier] K
[modifier] L
- let sleeping dogs lie = il ne faut pas réveiller le chat qui dort
[modifier] M
- the more the merrier = Plus on est de fous, plus on rit
[modifier] N
- no man is a hero to his valet = il n’y a pas de héros pour son valet de chambre
- no news is good news = Pas de nouvelle, bonne nouvelle
[modifier] O
- the opera ain't over till the fat lady sings = L'opéra n'est pas fini tant que la grosse n'a pas chanté = Ce n'est fini qu'à la fin.
[modifier] P
- practice makes perfect = C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron
- prevention is better than cure = Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
- the proof of the pudding is in the eating = On reconnaît l'artiste à ses oeuvres
[modifier] Q
[modifier] R
[modifier] S
- silence gives consent = Qui ne dit mot consent
- spare the rod and spoil the child = Qui aime bien châtie bien
[modifier] T
[modifier] U
[modifier] V
[modifier] W
- waste not want not = Qui ne tente rien n'a rien
- where there is a will there is a way = Vouloir c'est pouvoir
- while the cat's away, the mice come out to play = Quand le chat n'est pas là, les souris dansent
[modifier] X Y Z
[modifier] Autres proverbes
- a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush = Un tien vaut mieux que deux tu l'auras
- a debt paid is a friend kept = Les bons comptes font les bons amis
- adapt and survive = Mieux vaut plier que rompre
- beginner’s luck = Aux innocents les mains pleines
- better safe than sorry = Mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
- boys will be boys = Il faut que jeunesse se fasse
- charity will be rewarded in heaven = Qui donne aux pauvres prête à Dieu
- desperate times, desperate measures = Aux grands maux les grands remèdes
- an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth = œil pour œil, dent pour dent
- even a worm will turn
- the early bird catches the worm = L'avenir appartient à ceux qui se lèvent tôt
