Example: Il a pris le contre-pied des opinions habituelles pour surprendre.
Definition
"Prendre le contre-pied" means to deliberately take an opposite or contrary position to the usual or expected opinion or approach in order to surprise or challenge conventional thinking.
Translations
To take the opposite view
Llevar la contraria
Het tegenovergestelde standpunt innemen
Portar la contrària
Die Gegenposition einnehmen
Etymology
The phrase "Prendre le contre-pied" originates from French, where 'prendre' means 'to take' and 'contre-pied' literally means 'counter-foot' or 'opposite footstep.' It originally referred to taking a step in the opposite direction and evolved metaphorically to indicate adopting an opposing viewpoint.
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"Prendre le contre-pied" appears in the Vocaplus list "", containing 105 commonly used expressions.
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To take the opposite view