French leave

[steve brown]

What does 'French leave' mean?

[geofbob]

To take French leave means to leave somewhere or somebody without giving proper notice, or saying goodbye to one's host, or paying one's debts. It was an expression coined in the 18th Century, when the French were not very popular in Britain. Correspondingly, the French term for the same rude behaviour is "filer a l'Anglaise"!