French Expression of the Day: Raccrocher au nez
Telemarketers are most likely to be familiar with this French expression.
Why do I need to know raccrocher au nez?
Because you may be tempted to do this after the fifth consecutive call to a customer service department.
What does it mean?
Raccrocher au nez - roughly pronounced rah-cro-shay oh nay - technically translates as ‘to hang up on the nose’.
It means to violently or rudely hang up on someone.
French website linternaute describes it as “a common expression used to express the experience of hanging up the telephone abruptly without giving the other person time to finish their sentence.”
Raccrocher on its own means ‘to hang up’, but the au nez part gives it some extra intensity.
It's broadly equivalent to the English phrase 'slam the phone down on someone' (although modern touchscreen phones means we no longer have the satisfaction of violently slamming down the receiver after a particularly irritating call).
It is similar to the expression fermer la porte au nez (to slam the door in someone’s face) - which also conveys a negative or even hostile interaction.
Use it like this
Bien sûr, la conversation s'est transformée en dispute et, au lieu de me dire au revoir, il m'a raccroché au nez. - Of course the conversation turned into an argument, and instead of saying goodbye he just hung up on me.
J'ai essayé d'appeler la banque, mais la conseillère a été impolie et m'a raccroché au nez avant de répondre à ma question. - I tried to call the bank, but the representative was rude and hung up on me before answering my question.
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Why do I need to know raccrocher au nez?
Because you may be tempted to do this after the fifth consecutive call to a customer service department.
What does it mean?
Raccrocher au nez - roughly pronounced rah-cro-shay oh nay - technically translates as ‘to hang up on the nose’.
It means to violently or rudely hang up on someone.
French website linternaute describes it as “a common expression used to express the experience of hanging up the telephone abruptly without giving the other person time to finish their sentence.”
Raccrocher on its own means ‘to hang up’, but the au nez part gives it some extra intensity.
It's broadly equivalent to the English phrase 'slam the phone down on someone' (although modern touchscreen phones means we no longer have the satisfaction of violently slamming down the receiver after a particularly irritating call).
It is similar to the expression fermer la porte au nez (to slam the door in someone’s face) - which also conveys a negative or even hostile interaction.
Use it like this
Bien sûr, la conversation s'est transformée en dispute et, au lieu de me dire au revoir, il m'a raccroché au nez. - Of course the conversation turned into an argument, and instead of saying goodbye he just hung up on me.
J'ai essayé d'appeler la banque, mais la conseillère a été impolie et m'a raccroché au nez avant de répondre à ma question. - I tried to call the bank, but the representative was rude and hung up on me before answering my question.
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