better the devil you know

[Joyce Swait]

Does anyone know of an idiomatic expression which would be equivalent to the English expression 'better the devil you know (than the one you don't know)'?

[stu harris]

Literally it would be "Mieux le diable qu'on connait que celui qu'on connait pas" but that idiom doesn't exist as such. Maybe the closest is "de deux maux, choisir le moindre" -- which simply means take the lesser of two evils.

[Neil Coffey]

You could also say: Mieux vaut un ennemi que tu connais que celui que tu ne connais pas (or, more formally, ...que l'on connaît...).

[stu harris]

Should qu'on in my version have been que l'on? If so, why please?

[Neil Coffey]

Yes, in "proverb grammar" (and formal French in general), it would be more usual to put "que l'on". And as in my example, "Mieux vaut..." at the start would be more French, I think.