ne pas se bousculer au portillon

French

Etymology

Literally, “not to jostle at the gate”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /nə pa s(ə) bus.ky.le.ʁ‿o pɔʁ.ti.jɔ̃/ ~ /nə pɑ s(ə) bus.ky.le.ʁ‿o pɔʁ.ti.jɔ̃/

• Audio (Paris):

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Verb

ne pas se bousculer au portillon

1. (figuratively, informal, of people) not to line up, not to queue up, not to crowd in, not to fall over each other (with the implied meaning that something meets with little success)

Usage notes

• Chiefly used in the negative.
• Often used as an impersonal verb: ça ne se bouscule pas au portillon, "people are not exactly lining up".