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collignon

cab driver (pejorative)

noun ko-lee-NYON Rare

Origin: after Jacques Collignon, a Parisian cab driver who murdered a client in 1855

Usage Note

Collignon is an informal, dated French term for an aggressive or rude cab driver, after Jacques Collignon, a cabman who shot a passenger in 1855. It later came to mean any ill-tempered driver. The word carries a clear pejorative register.

Examples

"Ce chauffeur se comporte comme un collignon."

Natural Translation

That driver behaves like a rude cabby.

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