IdiomDaily Life
French
FrenchUne brève de comptoir
Meaning: An overheard bar-room witticism, usually absurd and unintentionally profound.
Literally: A counter brief
Example: “« Si la mer montait, on aurait moins loin à aller à la plage » : une vraie brève de comptoir.” — "If the sea rose, we'd have less far to go to the beach": a classic bit of bar-stool wisdom.
Origin: From Jean-Marie Gourio's Brèves de comptoir (Bar-Counter Briefs), collections of remarks transcribed in French cafés from 1987 onward. The books were popular enough that the phrase became the standard name for the genre.
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