We are going to explain you everything you have to know about the funny expression "Il a filé à l'anglaise". To be more specific, this includes a full definition of what it is and how to use it in a casual conversation with an audio example. And because we want to help you on your learning journey, we also added some useful stuff like synonyms, dialogue example, slow pronunciation audio and more!
Translation : He sneaked out
Literal meaning : He left English style
Register : Informal - Funny
Slow
Normal
IPA : / il a file a lɑ̃ɡlɛːz /
To be more precise, it means: "To leave discreetly, like a thief".
But why "English style" then? Because of... France vs. England legendary rivalry. The most popular explanation being that French people used it as a revenge for the British expression "to take a French leave".
To be fair, there are other theories about where this idiom is coming from. For example, the old French verb "Anglaiser" means "To steal" and we think people said "Filer à l'anglaise" to say "Leave like a thief".
Let's imagine your brother was supposed to wash the dishes, but he "disappeared" silently. Then you would say "Il a filé à l'Anglaise !" (He left English style!).
And would probably have to wash the dishes instead, while thinking about how you can "take an English leave".
↓ Example in a story with translation ↓
Finally, let's see an example in a parallel story with slow audio.
Avoir un ami bizarre
To have a weird friend
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