Why do I need to know faire le mur?
Because maybe you’re looking to describe what you’re pretty sure your teen did last weekend.
What does it mean?
Faire le mur – usually pronounced fair luh murr (listen here) – literally translates to ‘to do the wall,’ which is undeniably nonsensical.
The true meaning might bring back some funny stories or wild memories, as it means ‘to sneak out’ or ‘leave the house without permission,’ typically used to describe some rebellious adolescent behaviour.
Surprisingly, the expression dates back to the early 20th century (yes, they partied back then too), but at that time the phrase was sauter le mur (to jump over the wall). It still carries the same idea of escaping without permission, which has also been extended to other contexts, such as leaving the barracks without permission.
It’s similar to the English phrase, to go ‘awol,’ which actually comes from the military acronym ‘to be absent without leave’.
Use it like this
Je suis presque sûr que mon fils a fait le mur le week-end dernier. J’ai entendu la porte faire un bruit vers 2 heures du matin.– I am pretty sure my son snuck out last weekend. I heard the door make a noise around 2am.
J’ai une histoire hilarante à raconter : dans les années 80, j’ai fait le mur chez mes parents et j’ai roulé jusqu’à une ville située à 50 kilomètres de là, au milieu de la nuit.– I have a hilarious story to tell: it was the 1980s, and I snuck out of my parents’ house and drove to the town 50km away in the middle of the night.
Not to be confused with
Faire le pont – to do the bridge. This is nothing to do with rebellious teens, it described the very adult activity of taking a day of annual leave to form a ‘bridge’ to public holidays, thereby creating a nice four-day weekend for yourself.