taillable et corvéable à merci
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French
[edit]Alternative forms
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Literally, “to be liable to tax and to forced labour at will”. During the Ancien Régime, anyone who was not clergy or an aristocrat – namely, the commoners – had to pay taille (land tax) or do corvée (forced labour).
Pronunciation
[edit]Adjective
[edit]taillable et corvéable à merci (plural taillables et corvéables à merci)
- (idiomatic) heavily taxed; enslaved to do onerous work
- (figurative, humorous) exploitable endlessly; at the beck and call of; at one's bidding
Usage notes
[edit]Often preceded by être in a sentence.