FrenchPatin couffin
Meaning: And so on and so forth; et cetera.
Literally: Slipper, basket
Example: “Il faut acheter le pain, le fromage, le vin, patin couffin.” — We need to buy bread, cheese, wine, yada yada yada.
English equivalent: Yada yada yada
Equivalents in other languages
English: yada yada yada
Origin: No settled etymology. It is known in France from at least 1823 and comes from the south, possibly from Occitan patin e cofin, and is heard as readily in Provençal as in French. At the start of the 19th century a patin was a slipper, an old rag, or the felt pad you shuffled about on to avoid marking a freshly waxed floor; a couffin was a handled basket, also used as a crib. The explanation on offer, from Philippe Blanchet in 2000, rests on the reputation men gave women's conversation: supposedly confined to housework — hence the slipper — and to children — hence the crib. Tacked onto the end of a sentence or a list, patin couffin says there is no point finishing it, because the rest would hold about as much interest. The premise is the period's, not a compliment to anybody.
More French idioms
- Rouler un patin To kiss deeply, with tongue.
- Avoir un pet de travers To be slightly unwell, or simply in a foul mood.
- Pédé comme un phoque Said of a man: unmistakably gay. *Pédé* is a homophobic slur and the phrase is offensive.
- Pisser dans sa culotte To laugh helplessly — or, oppositely, to be terrified.
- Se chatouiller le poireau To masturbate, said of a man. Vulgar.
- Ça se bouscule au portillon There's a crush; also, crudely, of an urgent need to be sick.
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