IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchEn quarantaine
Meaning: In quarantine; isolated from contact.
Literally: In fortyness
Example: “Depuis ses propos au dîner, il est en quarantaine dans la famille.” — Since what he said at dinner, the family has been giving him the cold shoulder.
Origin: From the forty days ships were held offshore during plague outbreaks, a practice formalized in Venice and Ragusa in the 14th century. The number is fixed in the word even though the period stopped being forty days long ago.
More French idioms
- Tirer sa révérence To take one's leave, with a show of formality.
- À tour de rôle Each in turn.
- Un rond-de-cuir A petty bureaucrat.
- Au bout du rouleau Completely exhausted; at the end of one's resources.
- Hommes de sac et de corde Thorough scoundrels.
- L'affaire est dans le sac It is as good as settled.
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