mouton de Panurge

French

Etymology

From a character, called Panurge, in the book by François Rabelais. In the story, Panurge buys a sheep from a vendor and in revenge throws it into the sea. The other sheep in the flock, and the vendor himself who has jumped on the back of the final sheep, instinctively follow suit and drown in the sea too.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /mu.tɔ̃ d(ə) pa.nyʁʒ/
  • Audio(file)

Noun

mouton de Panurge m (plural moutons de Panurge)

  1. lemming, sheep (one who follows a group without thinking for himself)
    Synonym: (informal) mouton

Derived terms

Further reading
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