laïus
See also: Laius
French
editEtymology
editFrom Ancient Greek Λάϊος (Láïos, “Laius”); part of the entrance examination to the École Polytechnique in the early 19th century involved writing Laius's speech to Oedipus, a subject many students found uninspiring. The term entered Polytechnique student slang before spreading to the general language.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editlaïus m (plural laïus)
- (derogatory) a speech or address, especially one that is meaningless, trite, verbose, pat, and/or insincere.
Further reading
edit- “laïus”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.