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Proverbs Translated into French

These common English proverbs have been translated into French. Can you translate them them back?
Answers must be phrased in idiomatic English
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 4, 2019
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First submittedJuly 24, 2019
Times taken13,222
Average score61.1%
Rating4.05
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French
English
La curiosité a tué le chat
Curiosity killed the cat
Le temps, c'est de l'argent
Time is money
Tout est juste dans l'amour
et la guerre
All is fair in love and war
Le savoir c'est le pouvoir
Knowledge is power
Ne jugez pas un livre par
sa couverture
Don't judge a book by
its cover
Avoir votre gâteau et le
manger aussi
Have your cake and
eat it too
Le rire est la meilleure
médecine
Laughter is the best
medicine
L'ignorance est le bonheur
Ignorance is bliss
Le stylo est plus puissant
que l'épée
The pen is mightier than
the sword
French
English
Deux têtes valent mieux
qu'une
Two heads are better
than one
Seul les bons meurent jeunes
Only the good die young
Parler n'est pas cher
Talk is cheap
Les meilleures choses dans
la vie sont gratuites
The best things in life
are free
Aucun homme n'est une île
No man is an island
Un chien est le meilleur ami
d'un homme
A dog is a man's
best friend
Le sang est plus épais
que l'eau
Blood is thicker than
water
Le diable est dans les détails
The devil is in the details
Un bon homme est
difficile à trouver
A good man is hard
to find
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65 Comments
APHill
+1
Level 75
Jul 24, 2019
Nice concept! Took me (and my French knowledge from 20 years ago) a little while to get a couple of them, but I managed.
SouthKorea
+1
Level 48
Sep 17, 2021
the reason why talk is cheap has the lowest rate of getting it right is because it doesnt translate precisely the meaning in english.
plattitude
+5
Level 92
Jul 24, 2019
Could you accept "all's fair" on the third?

After it was over, I allowed chromium to translate the page for me. It did surprisingly well.

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jul 24, 2019
Yes
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Jul 24, 2019
I used Google translate to make these. Most of them had a checkmark meaning that they have been verified by a human translator.
martay
+3
Level 70
Jul 31, 2019
I could see a multiple choice version of this quiz with actual French (or whatever language) proverbs. It would take away any potential English to French transliteration errors while still challenging the polyglots of Jetpunk to intuit the meaning.
kylethewright
+5
Level 39
Aug 13, 2019
You should note that you used Google to produce the French translations so that everyone knows it is a game to unscramble what a machine did.
kylethewright
+1
Level 39
Aug 13, 2019
Also, you might find it even more interesting to use Google to translate into several languages and then have us try to decode. For example, translate into French, then have Google take that result and translate into Italian, and then have Google take that result and translate into Russian, and so on and so on.

Could be a lot of fun.

Quizmaster
+2
Level ∞
Oct 4, 2019
As I said above, most of these translations were verified by a human.
dunkinggandalf2
+4
Level 68
Dec 15, 2020
As a particularly nit-picky Frenchman, I can confirm that all of these are fine.
tshalla
+1
Level 76
Sep 15, 2021
How you did this is interesting. I'd assumed that you had purposely picked out sayings with French words that would be significant clues in English because of their similarity (ignorance, details, jugez, etc.) or popular borrowing (savoir, parler, etc.).
islabonita
+1
Level 45
Jul 25, 2019
Great quiz. I only missed Ignorance is bliss.
Sifhraven
+3
Level 71
Jul 27, 2019
Imo it could use a minute more. Didnt get around the last three and I though I was pretty darn fast.

Maybe it is because neither french or english is my first language. Otherwise recognising one word might be enough to get the entire proverb.

But if you actually have to read and translate every word, it is very tight on time. (and I hardly stopped anywhere to think, maybe a few seconds on argent

Eljo
+2
Level 62
Oct 4, 2019
I agree, one minute extra would be nice! But I'm a slow typer, I almost always run out of time in quizes like this.
Sifhraven
+1
Level 71
Oct 5, 2019
I think the time is good now, on tablet and only missed two. Which I didnt get immediately, but would have a little more to think about on laptop
Jango
+1
Level 64
Sep 13, 2021
I agree more time for typing would be good. I do these quizzes on my phone and I'm a one-finger texter. Knew all of these, just ran out of time on the last one because blood's thicker was not accepted, it had to be blood is thicker. Which is pretty daft, in my opinion
MayaB
+1
Level 73
Jul 27, 2019
I really enjoyed the quiz and I'm quite happy with my results. Neither of the languages is my mother tongue and I had French for the last time 8 years ago in high school. I'm pretty happy with only missing 3. And for two of them ("Talk is cheap" and "No man is an island") I tried a more literal translation which understandably didn't work.
Arp2600
+1
Level 86
Aug 25, 2019
"Parler n'est pas cher" doesn't catch the meaning either. I would rather say "Les paroles ont peu de valeur" or something like that. Anyway, it's difficult to be literal with "cheap" ;). On the other hand, "Aucun homme n'est une île" is indeed a literal translation of "No man is an island".
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 68
Dec 15, 2020
I don't understand your objection - "parler n'est pas cher" is a good literal translation. It's not a French proverb, but that's not the point. "Les paroles ont peu de valeur" would translate to "Words have little value", which is somewhat different from the original meaning.
shortyoh
+1
Level 82
Aug 7, 2019
Fun part is when Chrome automatically translates the proverbs for you, and you just have to change a word now and then... :)
McLerristarr
+1
Level 62
Aug 26, 2019
Nowhere near enough time to try to figure these out if you don't speak any French.
Rakaprounze
+2
Level 13
Sep 22, 2019
100% :)
YantheMan
+4
Level 66
Oct 4, 2019
Ah, this is when it's my time to shine as a Canadian.
kaderschaufel
+1
Level 72
Oct 4, 2019
Maybe get a native French speaker to check the grammar and style. I'm not a native French speaker myself, but I know enough French to know that the last one (un homme bien...) is wrong (bien is an adverb, like "well" in English, we clearly need an adjective here). Also, some of these look technically correct, but are in a bad style. I think the French would say "rire, c'est la meilleure médecine", the version here sounds clunky.
lbjool
+3
Level 89
Oct 4, 2019
Yes, it should be "un bon homme". Also, "dur" is the wrong kind of "hard" here. The way it is here, you are saying something mildly inappropriate about the good man's physical state. You want to use "difficil" instead.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Oct 4, 2019
D'oh. Yes, those are kind of obvious mistakes. Fixed them, thanks.
Tummykong
+3
Level 66
Oct 4, 2019
Lol, when I opened the page Chrome auto-translated it for me.
KiwiTyke
+1
Level 61
Oct 4, 2019
Same happened to me. I was staring at the quiz trying to figure out what the hell the quiz was supposed to be :D
loganite
+1
Level 89
Oct 4, 2019
Great quiz! Shound accept "the devil's in the details." Also, I would have liked more time - maybe just another minute?
Bonzo007
+4
Level 66
Oct 4, 2019
I remember hearing a tale of an eskimo paddling his canoe in the icy sea who decided to light a stove to keep warm. The canoe caught fire and sank, which just goes to show that "You can't have your kayak and heat it too".
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 68
Dec 15, 2020
Why does this not have more likes?
donniedarko
+1
Level 56
Oct 4, 2019
I said about 10 times different variations of the pen is more powerful than the sword, which is the word for word translation. :/
cockybra
+1
Level 47
Oct 4, 2019
My computer automatically switches foreign languages into English. I was so confused when I was asked to translate English into English.
YogBarOg
+2
Level 74
Oct 4, 2019
Last question : difficilE with an E. Very nice quiz.
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Oct 4, 2019
Corrigé. Merci beaucoup.
jen990
+1
Level 67
Oct 4, 2019
Fun quiz! 9/18, never taken any French. My rudimentary Spanish skills helped a little :)
jennraven
+2
Level 68
Oct 5, 2019
Accept a good man is difficult to find?
luxint
+1
Level 66
Sep 15, 2021
Totally agree. PS thanks for the great quiz
ander217
+1
Level 75
Oct 5, 2019
I thought this was really difficult since I've never taken French. I managed to figure out seven of them.
TheCrusher
+1
Level 71
Oct 7, 2019
My two cents, here, as a French Canadian... Instead of "Le rire est la meilleure médecine", I'd go with "Le rire est le meilleur remède/médicament". (Médecine is the general field of study; remède/médicament are what you take to heal an illness/ailment.) Also, I'd add a comma in "Le savoir, c'est le pouvoir", just like you did in "Le temps, c'est de l'argent". "Stylo" also sounds weirdly specific. I think "crayon" or "plume" would better convey the meaning of the expression. For the dog one, we generally say "Le chien est le meilleur ami de l'homme", although I can see why you went with another phrasing. And finally, "Un homme bon" would sound better than "Un bon homme".
TheCrusher
+1
Level 71
Oct 7, 2019
Also, "Parler n'est pas cher" sounds a bit weird, but I'm not sure how else I'd translate it... Maybe "Parler est peu dispendieux"? Or "La parole est peu dispendieuse"?
dasubergeek
+1
Level 74
Nov 5, 2019
I agree that "parler n'est pas cher" doesn't ring true (native French speaker here). I know you're trying to do word-for-word translations on purpose but there really isn't a word for "cheap" in French. The usual French expression would be "la parole ne vaut pas grand-chose".
dunkinggandalf2
+1
Level 68
Dec 15, 2020
But they're not supposed to ring true, or to sound like actual French proverbs! They're supposed to be literal translations - which they are. Also, noone uses the word "dispendieux" anymore.
arpacas
+1
Level 40
Oct 8, 2019
Excellent quiz! :)
sNick
+2
Level 55
Oct 10, 2019
"The blood of the covenant is thicker than the water of the womb."

This is the the real proverb

JulesOliveres
+1
Level 18
Feb 9, 2021
In french we say " avoir le beurre et l'argent du beurre" and not "avoir le gateau et le manger aussi. And this is "Le" chine and not "un" chien est le meilleur ami de l'homme.
aFuzzyPanda
+1
Level 58
Mar 3, 2021
Wooo, thanks Canada for the mandatory french classes xD
French2010
+1
Level 93
Sep 15, 2021
Re the last one, as Mae West is supposed to have said . . .
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 75
Sep 15, 2021
I was hoping that would be a type in.
AmandaJ
+1
Level 44
Sep 15, 2021
As soon as I started the quiz google asked if I'd like it translating into English !!!
Anderis
+1
Level 69
Sep 15, 2021
Me- a non native English speaker who's never been to any English speaking country with limited knowledge about English proverbs and 0 knowledge of French and very limited knowledge of other Romance language trying my luck in this quiz.

I got 4, which I think is not bad in these circumstances. :D

Malbaby
+1
Level 70
Sep 17, 2021
You are doing OK 'Anders'
Jango
+1
Level 64
Sep 15, 2021
Some of these translations are exécrable. Did our esteemed quizmeister not think to look at n English-French dictionary rather than Google Mistranlate?
TheGreatArturo
+1
Level 78
Mar 22, 2024
Did you not consult a spellchecker?
Damangio
+1
Level 64
Sep 15, 2021
13/18 untimed. I feel pretty good about that, since I don't speak a lick of French.

I tried "Time is silver" but couldn't get that one.

Majax
+1
Level 51
Sep 15, 2021
As a French, the hard part was actually knowing what word was used in English first lol 16/18
AlexThirkell
+1
Level 75
Sep 15, 2021
Good one, thanks. I only stumbled on the 'savoir is pouvoir' one - for a long time I thought it was something to do with the flavour of pepper...
EliotSkyrll
+1
Level 55
Sep 16, 2021
I know what it's saying, I just don't know the proverb for it. Is that an excuse?
steve553
+1
Level 75
Sep 16, 2021
In England, or perhaps in my part of it, we say "You can't have your cake and eat it". I couldn't understand why that wasn't right but perhaps you could make it acceptable?
maxmulham
+1
Level 28
Sep 16, 2021
French is my first language but I literally only got 16/18 cause thinking of the English equilivant is pretty darn brutal. I like to think I know English well but the weird idioms is something you don't often come across.
Historyman0
+1
Level 38
Sep 16, 2021
i used google translate on the browser tab i had this on to convert the translated-to-french words to

english

vincc
+1
Level 58
Sep 18, 2021
i wrote do not and never judge a book by its cover both incorrect lol
spoolygoo
+1
Level 76
Sep 18, 2021
Please accept 'Do not judge...'
elcampeador
+1
Level 78
Jul 20, 2023
My Google Chrome offered to translate this page... somehow I think that would miss the point of the quiz.
boa00
+1
Level 28
May 19, 2024
i could not get "The pen is mightier than

the sword"; i kept on writing the pen is stronger than the sword or is more powerful than the sword- could those be accepted?

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