French expression: Un ange passe
Friday October 5, 2007
What does the idiomatic French expression un ange passe mean? Learn all about it here, and then share your thoughts.
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Comments
It appears that the written pronunciation guide for un ange passe — specifically for un — is incorrect.
This phrase reminded me more of the old ‘ball of hay passing by’ when someone tells a bad joke. Maybe the room is suddenly so ‘dead’ that an actual angel is passing through! Just my idea of course!
Yes, one’s conversation is silenced because the participants are left in awe over the “appearance” of this being. I recall hearing my old professor comment with great irony when no student would reply to a question:
Quel silence, mes amis, est-ce-qu’un ange passe?
Quelle expression poétique ! Seulement le Français pour décriver si bellement comme on rétient le souffle et n´ose pas parler en attendant la suite des évenements!
L’expression n’est pas Francais a l’origine.
L’auteur grec Plutarque l’emploie avec le nom de dieu Hermes remplacant “ange.”
un ange passe au quebec comme ici au
hilo quand personne parle ou se taire
c’est que la silence reigne au dessus
les gens reste muets car trop de souci
fait des espaces invisibles chasses par
les inconnus qui ressemble les anges
la vide est la forme et la forme est vide
Patrick:
The nasal u has two pronunciations - a unique one, oo(n), and one like the nasal i. I use the former - see http://french.about.com/library/pronunciation/bl-pronunciation-un.htm
What a pleasant thought when such an awkward moment happens.
if there is a lull in conversation, it often happens 20 minutes to the hour or 20 past. This is when the angel is said to pass….
>This phrase reminded me more of the old ‘ball of hay passing by’ when someone tells a bad joke.
They’re called “tumbleweeds”… and don’t forget to add the sound of crickets!
Vous avez connaissance des hommes!
>They’re called “tumbleweeds”… and don’t forget to add the sound of crickets!
That’s the word I was looking for! Thank you Charles! It is a great idiom, especially now that I’ve heard from some of you what it means exactly!
Bonjour,
In Dutch we say:Er gaat een domonee voorbij. (A vicar is passing)
Daniel
It is wonderful to see this phrase acknowledged here. It appears in Truffaut’s classic film ‘Jules et Jim’. When Jim goes to visit Jules and Catherine after a long absence the atmosphere is tense, and during a long silence, Jules’ narrative notes that ‘Un ange passe’ It stuck with me the first time i saw the film, as it is such a beautiful and poetic phrase.
Indeed a vicker is passing: the awkwardness of the company discussing the commonnest of subjects as peaople tend to do causes the conversation to drop in the presence of an honourable person.
I’d always wondered about this expression after hearing it in a noir désir song, Cheers!
http://www.radioblogclub.com/open/80093/noir_desir_lolita_nie_en_bloc/35%20Noir%20Desir%20-%20Lolita%20nie%20en%20bloc
I beg to differ. It can just as easily be a comfortable or intimate silence as an awkward one. The phrase is used to break the silence.
i have the phrase tatooed on my forearm..i saw a veru moving performance in paris and i was with my girl n my honeymoon..we were silent and so content after the performance….an angel flew across the stage..the compare indeed was stunned to silence..in this case it was sed in three ways…firstly, literally the angel did pass..2nd it was used to explain her stunned silence to the audience and thirdly…it was the perfect poetic footnote or acccent to one of the most beautiful theatrical devices i have seen…oh yes lol…i have used it in a fourth way to describe a most perfect memory that i share with the one i love…(just thoughts)…does anybody know any great images of angels..i would ike to add one to my transcripted arm
When we say “un ange passe” during an embarassing conversation gap, I think that the matter is not to “describe” what is going on, but to ease away or even laugh away the embarassment of the situation, making it clear that nobody around is going to be blamed for the sudden silence, and that there is no embarassment to consider, really nothing to worry about.
Bon, je passe en Français (il est bientôt minuit et je fatigue). C’est comme quand vous êtes dans un ascenseur et que chacun regarde ses chaussures ou fixe les yeux sur le plafond. Ce n’est pas vraiment parceque mes chaussures ou le plafond de l’ascenceur sont devenus soudain des objets passionnants…
De la même façon, dans “Un ange passe”, bien que cela me plairait en tant que chrétien, je ne crois malheureusement pas que l’ange et son action de cause ou d’effet du silence soit une question qui se pose, même si je suis ravi des jolies choses poétiques et spirituelles que vous avez écrites…
Cela veut tout simplement dire “Ce n’est pas grave qu’il y ait un silence. Ce sont des choses qui arrivent. Que personne ne se sente gêné”.
Cordialement,
Christophe Brousse
I’ve seen this expression in the movie Apocalypse Now just this weekend.
A french character explains that during the war, when the french was hungry and the room becomes silent all of sudden, somebody says “un ange passe”, as the other replies: “let’s eat it” (forgot the french saying)
J’ai vu cette expression dans le film Apocalypse Now juste ce dernier weekend.
Un français explique que pendant la guerre les français avaient faim et la pièce (room?) devient silent tout a coup, quelqu’un dit “un ange passe” à ce l’autre réponds: “let’s eat it” (j’ai oublié comment dire en français)
a toute l’heure