Sans bourse délier
Meaning: Without spending a penny.
Language: French
Literally: Without untying the purse
Category: Daily Life
Origin: A medieval purse was a pouch closed by a drawstring, so paying began with untying it. Obtaining something without that first gesture means obtaining it for nothing at all.
More idioms — Daily Life
- Un branle-bas de combat — Frantic preparation; a general commotion.
- Battre en brèche — To attack a position or argument until it collapses.
- Une brève de comptoir — An overheard bar-room witticism, usually absurd and unintentionally profound.
- Cela va faire du bruit dans Landerneau — That is going to cause a stir.
- Brut de décoffrage — Rough, unpolished, delivered without any finishing.
- De but en blanc — Point-blank; abruptly and without preparation.
More French idioms
- Avoir un cadavre dans le placard — To have a discreditable secret in one's past.
- C'est le cadet de mes soucis — It is the very least of my concerns.
- Fumer le calumet de la paix — To make peace after a quarrel.
- Enterrer la hache de guerre — To end a feud and set hostilities aside.
- Carpe diem — Make the most of the present rather than counting on the future.
- S'aplatir comme une carpette — To grovel; to let oneself be walked over.
From our proverbs
- Time heals all sorrows — Emotional pain gradually diminishes through the passage of days, weeks, and months.
- Timing is everything — Seizing the right moment determines success more than effort or ability alone.
- To the victor go the spoils — Victory earns the right to claim rewards and resources from the defeated.
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