Why do I need to know marriage of carp and rabbit?
Because it might sound like a crazy children’s story, but this expression has a serious and adult meaning.
What does it mean?
Marriage of carp and rabbit – roughly pronounced mah-ree-ahj deh lah karp ay due lahp-ahn – translates precisely to ‘marriage of the carp (fish) and the rabbit’.
This might sound a bit nonsensical, and that is because it is meant to be. The marriage of carp and rabbit is a way of talking about two things that do not mix, or cannot go together. In English, we might say ‘oil and water’.
French people have been using this expression since at least the 19th century, even though its origins might be biblical, and like many old expressions, there are several theories about where it comes from.
One theory is that the carp symbolises a kosher food eaten during Jewish religious festivals, while the rabbit is not kosher, so not eaten by Jewish people, and therefore represents a meat that would be eaten by Christians.
This means that the carp and the rabbit would represent seemingly opposite foods that would not be eaten together.
Another theory is that the expression represents the idea of a marriage between a commoner and a noble, which in the 19th century would have been seen as against social rules.
But others think the answer is a lot more simple than that – eating carp and rabbit together would be absurd because the flavours would not mix well at all.
These days though, its used in a metaphorical way, so you don’t need to be talking about food when you use this expression.
Use it like this
He’s very introverted and hates traveling, and she’s very outgoing and can’t stay in one place for long. Everyone finds this union absurd, it is the marriage of the carp and the rabbit. – He is very introverted and hates travelling; she is very extroverted and cannot stay in one place for too long. Everyone finds the coupling to be absurd, it’s like mixing oil and water.
They will never work well together. It’s the marriage of a carp and a rabbit. – They will never work together well. It’s mixing oil and water.