French Phrase of the Day: Mettre un tunnel
mettre un tunnel?
Because
everyone can relate to finding themselves in this unfortunate position.
What does it mean?
Mettre un tunnel
- roughly pronounced meh-truh uhn too-nel - translates as 'to place a tunnel', as the word tunnel means the same in English as it does in French.
Construction workers might use this phrase literally to discuss an upcoming tunnelling project, but the expression has a symbolic meaning too.
Mettre un tunnel
is French slang for being trapped in a conversation with someone who speaks so incessantly that you cannot get a word in.
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As this phenomenon is fairly common, there are quite a few French
blogs
and
articles
instructing young people on how to avoid
tunnels
.
When it comes to using the expression, there are several variations to choose from, as it is evolving and is almost exclusively used amongst young people.
If you are complaining about the other person's behaviour, you would say
Il m'a mis un tunnel
(He trapped me in a conversation.)
You might also hear people turn
tunnel
into a verb by saying
tunneliser quelqu'un
or
il m'a tunnelisé.
On the other hand, you can complain about being trapped in a 'tunnel' by saying
j'ai pris un tunnel
(I got caught in a long conversation).
You can also just refer to any long, unending monologue as
un tunnel.
If you were the one who could not stop talking, you might message your friend the next day and say
Désolée pour le tunnel d'hier soir. J'avais vraiment besoin de parler
(Sorry for the long monologue last night. I needed to talk.)
While the expression is relatively new, its
origins
are not entirely clear. It may come from the world of theatre in the mid-20th century. At the time, French actors and playwrights referred to a monologue where the speaker suffered some form of memory lapse.
There are other tunnel-related French expressions too. For instance, 'the light at the end of the tunnel' has the same meaning in French, translating as
la lumière au bout du tunnel.
Use it like this
Il m'a mis un tunnel, mec. J'ai été coincé à écouter son nouveau régime de protéines toute la soirée. -
He trapped me in this unending conversation, mate. I was stuck there listening to him talk about his new protein diet all night
C'est ouf que j'ai pris un tunnel hier soir. Je voulais parler à tout le monde, mais Axelle avait vraiment besoin de s'exprimer sur sa rupture.
- It's wild I got stuck in that unending conversation last night. I wanted to talk to everyone, but Axelle really needed to talk about her breakup.
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