toujours perdrix
AmericanEtymology
Origin of toujours perdrix
First recorded in 1810–20; literally, “always partridge” (the meaning “too much of a good thing” refers to how a person might tire of eating something they love if that is all they eat)
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Close to the equator, it has too much sameness of characteristic; toujours perdrix.
From From Sail to Steam, Recollections of Naval Life by Mahan, A. T. (Alfred Thayer)
He forestalls in a few months what ought to be the effect of years; namely, the wearying a world soon nauseated with the /toujours perdrix/.
From Ernest Maltravers — Volume 05 by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
They have been too used to hanging in Ireland to make it piquant: "toujours perdrix" is a saying which applies in this as in many other cases.
From Handy Andy, Volume One A Tale of Irish Life, in Two Volumes by Lover, Samuel
Shooting is all very well, of course, for those who like it; and so is tennis; and so are early hours; but toujours perdrix.
From Molly Bawn by Hamilton, Margaret Wolfe
He forestalls in a few months what ought to be the effect of years; namely, the wearying a world soon nauseated with the toujours perdrix.
From Ernest Maltravers — Complete by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
