Pret a voyager has another awesome french lesson on the blog today...Il m'a posé un lapin -- literally meaning he put down a rabit, but translated to "he stood me up." Quite random if you ask me and very hard to comprehend for us english speakers. So I went to google to find an explanation, and as per always, google did not disappoint. Rabbit's back in the day used to signify the refusal to pay, particularly whilst traveling. So to travel like a rabbit, was to travel without paying (why are rabbits so cheap in france? maybe because they are fast and sneak away? hmm) Apparently, the phrase started when a man wouldn't pay for a prostitute (he gave her a rabbit) and then eventually evolved to standing her up.
And now you know. (side note: the first explanation I found translated to this in google translate - Long, the term 'rabbit' is associated with free riding, to transactions made in soft or improper gratuity, by default...okay, maybe google isn't always reliable ha)
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| courtesy of pretavoyager.com |
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