IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchVérité en deçà des Pyrénées, erreur au-delà
Meaning: What counts as true depends on which side of a border you stand.
Literally: Truth on this side of the Pyrenees, error beyond
Example: “Ici on mange à midi, là-bas à quinze heures : vérité en deçà des Pyrénées, erreur au-delà.” — Here we eat at noon, over there at three: what's right on one side of the border is wrong on the other.
Origin: From Pascal's Pensées, arguing that human justice varies with geography in a way real justice could not. He meant it as an indictment of custom, not as relativism.
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- Couler un bronze To defecate.
- Coûter un bras To be outrageously expensive.
- Se cailler les miches To be freezing cold.
- Chercher une aiguille dans une botte de foin To search for something you have almost no chance of finding, because the thing is tiny a…
- Avoir le bourdon To feel low; to be in a melancholy mood.
- Bourré comme un coing Completely drunk.
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