French Expression of the Day: Prendre ses jambes à son cou

This French expression is good to know if you need to run away quickly.

The expression prendre ses jambes à son cou , roughly pronounced prahn-dr suh zhahmb ah sohn koo (listen here ), literally translates to "take your legs to your neck". In reality, it means "to run away as fast as possible" or "to make a quick escape". It describes someone leaving a place in a hurry, usually because they are frightened, embarrassed, or trying to avoid trouble.

It dates back to the 17th century and is thought to have originated from the preparations people made before setting off on a journey.

Before travelling, people would gather their belongings, such as clothing, toiletries and food, and carry them in a bag over their shoulder, with the strap resting near the neck. In a humorous way, people would say that, above all, you shouldn't forget to take your legs with you, especially if you had to leave in a hurry and run.

Over time, the expression gradually evolved into prendre ses jambes à son cou. As the wording changed, the original connection with travel was lost, and the phrase came to simply mean to run away as fast as possible. The expression in its modern form was first recorded by the novelist and lexicographer Antoine Furetière, a member of the Académie française, in the 17th century.

En voyant le chien, il a pris ses jambes à son cou. - When he saw the dog, he ran away as fast as he could.

Dès que la police est arrivée, ils ont pris leurs jambes à leur cou. - As soon as the police arrived, they made a run for it.

J'ai pris mes jambes à mon cou dès que j'ai entendu l'alarme. - I ran for my life as soon as I heard the alarm.