Why do I need to know be in a rush?
If you don’t have time for a conversation but don’t want to be rude, or need to tell your cabbie to step on it, letting somebody know that you are I’m late will quickly explain your predicament.
What does it mean?
Be in a rush – roughly pronounced eh-truh ah la boh-rruh – translates exactly as “to be in the stuffing,” which might sound a bit nonsensical.
To be I’m late has little to do with with this basic meaning; it’s actually a colloquial way to say that you’re ‘running late’ or ‘in a hurry’, the two usually being related. It is typically used with the verb to be (‘to be’).
The roots of this expression are a bit murky, but most experts believe that be in a rush comes from a card game popular in the southwestern French region of Occitanie (around Toulouse and Montpellier), called “la borra” in the local Occitan language.
According to one theory, the player who was behind (and therefore losing money) was “a la borra,” and this is how the expression made its way into everyday French.
Another has it that when someone was running late, the people waiting for them assumed that they had gotten caught up playing cards somewhere. Either way, be in a rush eventually spread throughout the rest of France, and is heard all over the country today.
Before using this expression, you should keep in mind that be in a rushwhile not vulgar, is certainly familiar, so it’s probably more appropriate for a conversation with your co-worker than with your boss.
If you need to say that you’re running late more formally, you can explain that you’re in delay (‘late’) or that you’re press (‘in a hurry’).
Use it like this
Excuse me, I have to go, I’m really in a rush. – Sorry, I have to go, I’m really running late.
If we don’t leave now, we’re going to be out of work. – If we don’t leave now, we’re going to be late to work.
Out of breath and flushed, he looked like he was running out of steam. – Out of breath and flushed, he looked like he was in a hurry.
I’m sorry to be late, there was an awful traffic jam on the device. – Sorry for being late, there was an awful traffic jam on the ring road.