tâtant le tapis, feeling (about) the table - cover

Tâter (from Latin taxare, a form of tangerc) is idiomatically équivalent to fed, which is probably cognate with paljKtble (Skeat), but is chiefly used to raean ' employer le toucher afin de connaître." Note from tapis, meaning the covering of tables, walls, floors, etc., the idiomatic uses of the word ; e.g. tapis-vert = gambling-house ; sur le tapis, under discussion, etc.

doit, must. Devoir differs from falloir in expressing no idea of want or compulsion, but simply a supposition, or duty, fate, etc., with a presumption of

PAGE LINE

certainty. Ex. : Dehcmur morti (Horace), Nous devons mourir = \ve shall die.

2. 7. Mon Dieu 1 alas ! Beware of translating literall)- thèse exclamations, Avhosc solemuity or profauity lias been destroyed by familiar use.

8. mal, wrong. The adverbs bien and mal are iised instead of the correspouding adjectives and nouns : (1) to represent the abstract idea of right and wrong, e.g. faire le bien, éviter le mal; (2) to express the partitive idea of possession and siiffering, e.g. il a du bien, il a de grands biens, he is well ofF, lie lias large estâtes ; avoir du mal à vivre, souffrir beaucoup de maux, to be badly ofF, and sufi'er niany ills. The etymological connection between bien and bon aceounts for the above.