Well attestedFrom the people of the place
take French leave
verb · first attested 18th century
The French return the insult precisely: they call it leaving English style.
To leave a gathering, or a post, without telling anyone or saying goodbye.
Record
- Relationship
- From the people of the place
- Confidence
- Well attestedThe place link is the standard scholarly account.
- Attested
- 18th century
- Part of speech
- verb
Explanations here are written for this atlas. Dictionary text is not copied; the sources are linked so the claim can be checked.
- Step 1
France
- In English
take French leave
Eighteenth-century English writers attached the habit to French manners, while the French phrase filer à l'anglaise does exactly the same thing in reverse. Several other European languages borrowed one version or the other, so the rudeness always belongs to the neighbors.
Also pinned to France
8 more from the same place
French hornThe orchestra's horn is French only in English.FranceFrench windowA whole family of English words for fittings points at France.FranceFrench leaveThe French say the same thing about the English: filer à l'anglaise.FranceFrench polishA French finish made from a resin secreted by an insect farmed in India.FranceFrench ticklerEnglish pins anything sexual on France; French does the same to England.FrancefranciumIts discoverer first wanted to call it catium, and was told it would sound like cat in English.FranceFrench breadFor most of its life in English the phrase had nothing to do with the baguette.FranceFrench doorAmericans call it a door and the British call the same thing a window.France
France
All 57 entries 48 more words from France
denimThe cloth is named for Nîmes, not for jeans.NîmesbayonetThe blade is traditionally tied to a port in the Basque country.BayonnechampagneThe drink is a place-name first, a party word second.ChampagnecognacThe brandy is the town’s name in a glass.CognaccayenneThe heat is named for a capital on the Atlantic coast of South America.CayennelimousineThe luxury car is named for a cloak from Limousin.LimogesroquefortThe blue cheese is a village in the Aveyron.Roquefort-sur-SoulzoncamembertThe cheese is a Norman village.Camembert