Hello everyone! Welcome to this new podcast episode Hold the candle . Last week, we saw the expression ” ne pas pisser dans un violon “. Intriguing as an expression, so don’t hesitate to listen to it when you have a little time. In the meantime, today, we’re going to look at the French idiomatic expression “tenu la chandelle” together. You may have already heard it, or even used it for those who know it.
Before I start my explanations, please, I would just like to ask you to consider giving us 5 nice stars on your favorite podcast application that you use. I thank you in advance for your support, because it is really thanks to you and all your little helping hands that Français Authentique can help as many people as possible like you in their journey towards the French language.
Here we go today with our expression
“holding the candle”. We will start with the explanation of the words.
The first word is the verb “to hold.” It means to have something in your hand.
And the word “candle”. So, the candle is an object that was used in the past for lighting; today, it is used more for decoration.
As for the origin of this expression, well it appears around the 19th century. At that time, electricity did not exist, nor did bedside lamps, for that matter. So, when mexico whatsapp number data a married couple wanted to fool around at night, well they would call on a maid or an easel to light the room during lovemaking. So, their role, well it was to hold a candle with their backs turned obviously. This embarrassing situation gave birth to this expression. So, it means to be uncomfortable in the presence of a couple, to feel a little too much and not to be in a very pleasant situation.
I’m going to give you three examples, three mark lurie founder and ceo different contexts, so that you can understand the meaning of the expression a little better.
First example: “Please come with me. I don’t want to be alone with John and Sarah. I’ll hold the candle.” So here the
person is asking their friend to come with
them so they don’t have to hold the candle between the couple and don’t end up alone with the couple.
The second example: “I’m never going out with those two again, I felt like I was holding the candle all evening. They spent their time making out.” So, here, we understand that there is a couple plus a single person, and the person felt that she was holding the candle in the sense that the couple aleart news was together and that she couldn’t really spend an evening with friends as a threesome.
Third example: If a couple suggests a threesome, you can respond: “That’s very kind of you, but I don’t want to hold the candle.”
I think these three examples have allowed you to understand, to contextualize the expression a little better. We will move on to a little pronunciation exercise with the syllable “chan”. I will quote you some words and you will repeat after me.