Des économies de bouts de chandelle
Meaning: Petty economies that save nothing worth having.
Language: French
Literally: Candle-end savings
Category: Food & Drink
Origin: Collecting the stubs of burnt-down candles to melt into new ones was genuine household thrift, and genuinely negligible next to any real expense. The phrase mocks the proportion, not the frugality.
More idioms — Food & Drink
- Un étouffe-chrétien — Food so dense and stodgy it is hard to swallow.
- Mettre de l'eau dans son vin — To moderate one's demands or soften one's position.
- De derrière les fagots — The very best, kept back for a special occasion.
- À la fortune du pot — Taking potluck; sharing whatever happens to be cooking.
- Séparer le bon grain de l'ivraie — To distinguish what is valuable from what is worthless.
- Se demander si c'est du lard ou du cochon — To be unable to tell what something is or how it is meant.
More French idioms
- Avoir les coudées franches — To have complete freedom of action.
- Battre sa coulpe — To publicly acknowledge one's own wrongdoing.
- Le petit doigt sur la couture du pantalon — Standing rigidly to attention; obeying without question.
- Ôter une épine du pied à quelqu'un — To relieve someone of a persistent difficulty.
- Un écorché vif — Someone painfully hypersensitive to everything around them.
- Se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter — To have an absurdly high opinion of one's own importance.
From our proverbs
- A bald head is soon shaven. — Removing what's already gone requires no effort; unnecessary actions waste time on the im…
- There's no great banquet but some fare ill. — Even at abundance's height, someone's needs remain unmet or dissatisfied.
- One barber shaves not so close but another finds work. — No matter how thoroughly one person completes a task, imperfection always remains for oth…
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