Poser un lapin is a very common French proverb which involves the fluffy bunny ! π°β€οΈ
He is such a cutie ! π Now what do you think this very popular French expression means in English: let’s have a look at the picture :
A standing man looking at his watch π§ββοΈ
A rabbit π°
Two French words :
π«π· “poser” = to put, to place
π«π· “un lapin” = a rabbit π°
It literaly means “to pose a rabbit” ?!?
What can it possibly mean ? To find out let’s have a look at the origin quite “libertin” of this French expression ! β€οΈ
Poser un lapin : origin
In fact this French idiom: poser un lapin, βto pose a rabbitβ goes back to the XIXth century. Originally, Georges Planelles writes in his book ‘The 1001 favorite expressions of the French’, that the expression means βnot to reward a woman’s favorsβ. The verb “to pose” slang designating “to make wait” and the term “rabbit”, “an aspiring libertine leaving the girls of little virtue without paying the agreed price”, indicated in 1889 LorΓ©dan Larchey in his New supplement of the dictionary of slang . Meaning, which was already found elsewhere in 1878 in “giving a rabbit to a girl” or “not paying her favors”.
In other words, the “rabbit setter”, was the one who made the woman from whom he had benefited await payment (the rabbit) for a long time. β±
This is why the ladies of little virtue decided from then on to be paid in advance ! π€
The current meaning of the expression is likely to have come from an unfulfilled expectation (that of payment) to another equally unfulfilled expectation (that of the person expected), since in both cases, it is a commitment that is not kept.
Source: The Figaro article about the origin of Poser un lapin.
Poser un lapin : Definition
Ne pas tenir un engagement, une promesse
Larousse
It means not to keep a commitment, a promise
Poser un lapin example
π«π· “On avait rendez-vous, Γ 20h, j’ai attendu pendant 2 heures, elle n’est jamais venue, elle m’a posΓ© un lapin. “
π¬π§ ‘We had a date at 8 pm. I waited for 2 hours. She never came. She stood me up.’
Thus, ‘poser un lapin” nowadays is usually linked to romantic dates and being stood up π²
Poser un lapin translation in English
To stand someone’s up
Poser un lapin π°
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