Mieux vaut tenir que courir
Meaning: Better to keep what you have than chase what you might get.
Language: French
Literally: Better to hold than to run
Category: Daily Life
Origin: The same argument as un tiens vaut mieux, put in terms of effort rather than counting. French keeps both in circulation.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Un travail de Titan — An undertaking of enormous scale.
- À tombeau ouvert — At reckless, life-threatening speed.
- Être mis sur la touche — To be sidelined and left out of things.
- Botter en touche — To dodge a question by changing the subject.
- Une tour d'ivoire — A position of deliberate detachment from ordinary life.
- La tournée des grands-ducs — A lavish night out taking in every fashionable establishment.
More French idioms
- Un coup de Trafalgar — A sudden catastrophic reversal, often felt to be underhand.
- Doré sur tranche — Extremely wealthy; luxuriously appointed.
- Le bout du tunnel — The first sign that a long difficulty is ending.
- Brûler ses vaisseaux — To destroy any possibility of retreat.
- Vérité en deçà des Pyrénées, erreur au-delà — What counts as true depends on which side of a border you stand.
- Un vieux de la vieille — A veteran of long standing.
From our untranslatable words
- L'esprit de l'escalier — Thinking of the perfect comeback only after the moment has passed — on your way down the…
- Terroir — The unique character that a place — its soil, climate and tradition — gives to a wine or…
- Râler — To complain and grumble with a certain national flair — a beloved French pastime.
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