French leave
不告而别
典故：法国人都喜欢不告而别？并非如此，但是在18世纪，法国人性格随便，性情浪漫，在参加宴会等一切社交聚会时，养成了不向主人告别就擅自离去的习惯。
French leave is "Leave of absence without permission or without announcing one's departure", including leaving a party without bidding farewell to the host. The phrase was born at a time when the English and French cultures were heavily interlinked. (wikipedia)
在《牛津字典》中的解释，to take French leave is to go away, or do anything, without permission or notice。所以我们把French leave 翻译成不告而别。有趣的是，英法两国的文化还真的有种争锋相对的味道，连语言也不例外。在法语中，同样有个短语filer à l'anglaise（take English leave）表达相同的概念。French leave 特别用于表达“擅离职守”的概念（the act of leisurely absence from a military unit），这同样与17-18世纪的英法战争史有关。
例句：Many of the boys at the school took French leave to go to the football match。
学校里很多孩子旷课去看足球比赛。
