IdiomDaily LifeFrench

Partir à Tataouine

Meaning: To be packed off somewhere remote and unpleasant.

Literally: To be sent to Tataouine

Example: “Après sa gaffe, le cadre a été muté à Tataouine.” — After his blunder, the manager was transferred to some godforsaken outpost.

Origin: Tataouine in southern Tunisia held a French penal battalion, and being sent there was a punishment posting. The town later lent its name to a planet in Star Wars, which is a considerable change of register.

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