This year April 1st falls quietly on a Sunday, much to the relief of teachers across France. Last year I wrote briefly about the fish I collected on my back through my morning of teaching. During morning recess that day, the teachers who were on duty swore they'd go on strike if they had duty on April 1st the following year.
Recently I came across the French expression poser un lapin, which literally means "to set/put down a rabbit." To use the phrase in French, you say that you "put a rabbit down for someone." What this curious phrase means, in fact, has absolutely nothing to do with rabbits, nor anything cute and fuzzy, but instead means "to stand someone up"! There must be some great etymological explanation for this locution, but I haven't looked for it yet...
Another spring-y animal phrase I learned recently is the way that the French refer to "dust bunnies" - those gross clumps of dust and stuff that gather in tumbleweeds under beds and couches when you don't vacuum often enough. In French, there aren't bunnies living under the couch, but des moutons, sheep! I think the French sheep imagery is even better than the English bunnies.
...enough procrastination. I must get back to studying vocab...
No comments:
Post a Comment