Laisser pisser le mérinos
Meaning: To let things take their course; to wait it out.
Language: French
Literally: To let the merino piss
Category: Animals
Origin: The older form is laisser pisser la bête (let the animal piss), from the 19th century and from the men who drove teams. Draft animals will foul the road on the move, but relieving themselves while walking is another matter and risks trouble, so the driver stopped and waited — which meant being in no hurry, unbothered, content to let events happen. That is precisely the sense the phrase carries. The merino displaced the plain bête later, as a joke: the breed's wool was in vogue and the word was on everybody's lips. A story is also told about Louis XIV, whose flock of 366 merinos was installed at Rambouillet, one of which urinated on the royal foot, prompting the king to tell the flustered breeder to let it finish. No lexicographer cites it and it reaches print long after the expression does, so it looks invented afterwards.
More idioms — Animals
- Ça ne casse pas trois pattes à un canard — It's nothing special or impressive.
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