IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchCollet monté
Meaning: Prim, stiff and old-fashioned in manner.
Literally: Raised collar
Example: “Sa belle-famille est très collet monté : on ne met pas les coudes sur la table.” — Her in-laws are very prim and proper: no elbows on the table.
Origin: The collet monté was the wired standing collar worn at the courts of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, which forced the head up and back. By Molière's time it already meant someone whose manners belonged to an earlier reign.
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