IdiomFood & Drink
French
FrenchUne auberge espagnole
Meaning: A place or discussion in which you find only what you yourself brought to it.
Literally: A Spanish inn
Example: “Ce séminaire, c'est une auberge espagnole : chacun y trouve ce qu'il apporte.” — This seminar is what you make it: everyone gets out of it what they bring.
Origin: From the reputation of Spanish inns among 18th-century French travelers: they offered shelter and a fire but no food, so guests ate whatever they had carried in. Now used of debates and concepts into which each participant reads their own assumptions.
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