Ne tirez pas sur le pianiste
Meaning: Do not blame the person who is only doing their best with what they were given.
Language: French
Literally: Don't shoot the pianist
Category: Daily Life
Origin: Oscar Wilde reported seeing a sign in a Colorado saloon reading please do not shoot the pianist, he is doing his best. French took the phrase and dropped the second half.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Qui va piano va sano — Slow and steady is the surer way.
- Prendre le train onze — To go on foot.
- Vieux comme Mathusalem — Extremely old.
- Mettre à pied — To suspend someone from their duties.
- Jeter la première pierre — To be the first to condemn someone.
- Avoir pignon sur rue — To be soundly established, with a visible and respectable position.
More French idioms
- Comme un poisson dans l'eau — Completely at ease in one's element.
- Tuer la poule aux œufs d'or — To destroy a source of steady profit out of greed for all of it at once.
- Écrire un poulet à quelqu'un — To send a love letter.
- À la queue leu leu — In single file, one behind another.
- Avoir la queue entre les jambes — To slink off humiliated.
- Manger à tous les râteliers — To take advantage from all sides at once, with no loyalty to any.
From our proverbs
- You cannot hide an eel in a sack. — Obvious truths inevitably reveal themselves despite attempts at concealment, just as a li…
- Tis hard to sail o'er the sea in an egg-shell. — Fragile vessels cannot survive harsh conditions; attempting impossible tasks with inadequ…
- Rub your sore eye with your elbow. — Attempting the impossible wastes effort; some problems lack practical solutions.
Loading the full interactive collection…