lèche-vitrine

French

FWOTD – 20 October 2016

Etymology

From lèche (“lick”, imperative of lécher) +‎ vitrine (“window”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /lɛʃ.vi.tʁin/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• Rhymes: -in
• Homophone: lèche-vitrines

Noun

lèche-vitrine m or f (plural lèche-vitrines)

1. (idiomatic, only in the masculine) window-shopping

   faire du lèche-vitrine ― to go window-shopping

   • 1950, Raymond Queneau, “Le Journal intime de Sally Mara”, in Les Œuvres complètes de Sally Mara, Gallimard, published 1989, page 48:

     Je me serais bien arrêtée devant les magasins pour faire du lèche-vitrine, mais mon compagnon aurait peut-être pensé que je voulais me faire offrir quelque chose, ce qui l’aurait mis dans une situation délicate vu qu’il n’a certainement pas beaucoup d’argent de poche : il n’y a qu’à le regarder.

     I would have gladly stopped in front of the stores to do some window shopping, but my companion might have thought that I wanted to get something for myself, which would have put him in a delicate situation given that he certainly didn't have a lot of pocket money: you could tell just by looking at him.

2. (idiomatic) window-shopper

   Elle est une véritable lèche-vitrine.

   She's a real window-shopper.

Further reading

• “lèche-vitrine”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.