mouton enragé
English
editEtymology
editFirst attested in 1826. Borrowed from French mouton enragé, a nickname given to French politician Nicolas de Condorcet by Turgot, from mouton (“sheep”) + enragé, past participle of enrager (“to enrage”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editmouton enragé (plural moutons enragés)
- A normally peaceful person who has become suddenly and uncharacteristically angry.
- Remember not to enter the monastery; those monks can be real moutons enragés.
Quotations
edit- For quotations using this term, see Citations:mouton enragé.
References
edit- 1999, Ed. Jennifer Speake, The Oxford Essential Dictionary of Foreign Terms in English, Oxford University Press, →ISBN
- Notes to Marius Chastaing (July 1832) "Lyon. Défense de la Mercuriale.", L'Écho de la Fabrique.
- “mouton enragé, n.”, in OED Online , Oxford, Oxfordshire: Oxford University Press, July 2023.