IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchUn violon d'Ingres
Meaning: A serious passion pursued outside one's actual profession.
Literally: An Ingres's violin
Example: “Ce chirurgien a un violon d'Ingres : il sculpte des oiseaux en bois.” — This surgeon has a passion on the side: he carves wooden birds.
Origin: The painter Jean-Auguste-Dominique Ingres played the violin devotedly and was said to prize his playing above his painting. Man Ray's photograph of a woman's back marked with f-holes made the phrase permanently visual.
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