On this page, we are going to teach you all the things you want to know about the funny French expression "Poser un lapin". To be more specific, this includes a detailed guide of what it is and how you can use it in a conversation with an audio example. But that's not all, we also added super useful stuff like synonym, dialogue example, slow pronunciation audio and more!
Translation : To stand someone up
Literal meaning : To put a rabbit
Register : Informal - Funny
Slow
Normal
IPA : / poze ɛ̃ lapɛ̃ /
It literally means:
The origin of this saying is quite unclear, one theory is that back in time, an incredible and fictional story was called "un lapin" (a rabbit). Then, with time, the expression "Poser un lapin" (To put a rabbit) became a way to say "To stand someone up", because the story of the date was a lie: a rabbit.
So "Poser un lapin" (To put a rabbit) nowadays basically means: "To not go on a date without telling the person who is expecting us".
If someone stood you up, you can say: "Il/Elle m'a posé un lapin" (He/She put me a rabbit).
But instead, if you didn't show up to your date, you can say: "Je lui ai posé un lapin" (I put him/her a rabbit)
Dialogue
Ton premier rendez-vous s'est bien passé ?
Did your first date went well?
Non, il m'a posé un lapin...
No, he put me a rabbit...*
Je suis désolé pour toi
I'm sorry for you
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