E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Magnifique … Guerre.
“C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre.” Admirable, but not according to rule. The comment of Marshal Canrobert on the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava.
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“It is because the clergy, as a class, are animated by a high ideal … that they, as a class, are incomparably better than they need be … C’est magnifique, mais ce n’est pas la guerre.”—Nineteenth Century, April, 1866.
