French Expression of the Day: Être un pigeon
For foreigners in France, sometimes it can be easy to feel like this French expression when struggling to communicate in a second language
Why do I need to know être un pigeon?
Because if someone calls you this, you might not want to take it as a compliment.
What does it mean?
Être un pigeon – roughly pronounced "eh-truh uhn pee-shjon" – is a French expression that translates precisely as “to be a pigeon”.
The phrase is not to be taken literally, however. In colloquial French, it means to be naive, or easily duped and taken advantage of.
The story goes that a species of bird called the hoopoe (huppe) with magnificent crest feathers was common in Europe. When these beautiful feathers were plucked, the bird would be considered dé-huppé - which is where the French word dupé and the English duped come from.
Pigeons eventually became a symbol for the easily duped in France because they were far more common than huppes and did not possess the beautiful crest.
There are other French expressions that reference the city bird, like pris pour un pigeon, which means to be conned or taken for a fool.
Use it like this
Sarah est un vrai pigeon, elle est toujours victime d'escroqueries pour une raison ou une autre. – Sarah is easily duped, she is always getting scammed for one reason or another.
Il est gentil et veut bien faire, mais c'est un pigeon. Les gens profitent souvent de lui. – He is nice and means well, but he is naive. People take advantage of him often.
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Why do I need to know être un pigeon?
Because if someone calls you this, you might not want to take it as a compliment.
What does it mean?
Être un pigeon – roughly pronounced "eh-truh uhn pee-shjon" – is a French expression that translates precisely as “to be a pigeon”.
The phrase is not to be taken literally, however. In colloquial French, it means to be naive, or easily duped and taken advantage of.
The story goes that a species of bird called the hoopoe (huppe) with magnificent crest feathers was common in Europe. When these beautiful feathers were plucked, the bird would be considered dé-huppé - which is where the French word dupé and the English duped come from.
Pigeons eventually became a symbol for the easily duped in France because they were far more common than huppes and did not possess the beautiful crest.
There are other French expressions that reference the city bird, like pris pour un pigeon, which means to be conned or taken for a fool.
Use it like this
Sarah est un vrai pigeon, elle est toujours victime d'escroqueries pour une raison ou une autre. – Sarah is easily duped, she is always getting scammed for one reason or another.
Il est gentil et veut bien faire, mais c'est un pigeon. Les gens profitent souvent de lui. – He is nice and means well, but he is naive. People take advantage of him often.
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