Excerpt from Dictionary of English and French Idioms: Illustrating, by Phrases and Examples, the Peculiarities of Both Languages, and Designed as a Supplement to the Ordinary Dictionaries Now in Use Conversation with educated men, and the reading of good authors, are undoubtedly the means by which this knowledge is most readily attained; but the ability to enjoy such advantages implies very considerable progress on the part of the student; whereas it is just then, when he has not yet acquired sufficient experience, that assistance is most needed. Even those whom long practice has rendered familiar with the resources of a foreign language, may often find themselves embarrassed by idioms and peculiar expressions, which can be translated only by equivalents. Besides, memory may fail; every one is occasionally at a loss for a sentence, and even the most experienced translator i s at times in want of the proper expression or synonym to convey the exact meaning of the original text - ao that, whether for instruction or for assisting memory, all may have occasion to refer to a work, exhibiting the difference between vernacular and foreign phraseology, and furnishing the student with a system of written examples, to serve as models after which to arrange and construct any sentence, the translation of which may be attended with doubt or difficulty. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.