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French Proverb
| Meaning | He who laughs last laughs best / loudest | |
| Literally | [He] will laugh well [he] who laughs last | |
| Register | normal | |
| Pronunciation |  |
[ree ra bye(n) kee ree ra leu dehr nyay] |
| IPA | [ʁi ʁa bjɛ̃ ki ʁi ʁa lə dɛʁ nje] | |
Usage notes: The French proverb rira bien qui rira le dernier doesn’t necessarily have anything to do with laughter, per se – it’s more about celebrating a victory. If you start celebrating – i.e., laughing – before the race is over and your victory has been officially declared, you’ll end up crying instead if it turns out that you weren’t actually the winner. So it’s better to keep quiet and make sure you are in fact the victor before you rejoice.
Par exemple…
| Il s’est moqué de notre projet, mais rira bien qui rira le dernier. | He laughed at our project, but he who laughs last laughs best. | |
| Ils pensaient m’avoir battu, mais rira bien qui rira le dernier. | They thought they’d beaten me, but he who laughs last laughs best. |
Variations
- Celui qui rit le dernier rit le mieux
- C’est elui qui rit le dernier qui rit le mieux
- On verra bien qui rira le dernier
- On verra qui de nous le dernier rira
Synonymous expressions
- Tel qui rit vendredi, dimanche pleurera
- Quelqu’un prendra sa revanche
- L’affaire aura des suites
Related lessons
- Future tense
- Qui is a relative pronoun
In italiano
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