Tarrying too long at a “frog wedding”?

December 30, 2017 7:29 PM

A person of my acquaintance heard a saying used jokingly when a person is taking a long time to return from somewhere, like the restroom: “[person] must be going to a frog wedding.” Have you heard this expression? Where does it come from?

The expression was likely heard in a non-English language. We suspect it might be French or Peruvian, but have found no hint of the expression online in Spanish or French. (We found lots of articles about frog weddings to prevent drought in India.) Was the frog wedding thing just an inside joke or do others say this?

posted by reren to Writing & Language (6 answers total)

I reckon it’s a frottage joke.

Would be particularly pertinent if the person was in the restroom.

(As frogs don’t “marry” but leave their fluids around for each other, it’s rather a charming insult, in my opinion. Totes plagiarising it for vulgar Australian audiences. )
posted by taff at 10:01 PM on December 30, 2017 [3 favorites]

There’s always the use of “frog” as a derisive term for French people, and maybe their weddings tend to be long? But unlikely if the expression was actually heard in a language other than English.
posted by lakeroon at 6:36 AM on December 31, 2017

Frog weddings are a Hindu tradition used to break a drought. I wonder if it's a joke based on the length of Hindu wedding celebrations, which are like 3 days or something.
posted by xyzzy at 8:53 AM on December 31, 2017

The ballad of The Marriage of the Frog and the Mouse, also known as Frog Went A-Courting or A Frog He Would A-Wooing Go, is all about the wedding guests who interrupt the wedding, running through, as Tom Lehrer would say, 'interminable verses' and ending up with the mouse getting chased by the cat and the frog getting eaten by the lily-white duck (with a roly, poly, gammon and spinach). So if you're a folksong devotee, it makes perfect sense that a frog wedding would be an event that takes longer than you expect.
posted by verstegan at 9:37 AM on December 31, 2017 [3 favorites]

If they go to a frog wedding and a snipe hunt on the same day, they may be Bunburying.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 10:42 AM on December 31, 2017 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Thanks for the interesting responses! You all came up with some very creative speculations. Unfortunately, we're still left wondering what the origin and derivation of the expression might be, as no has reported actually hearing it used. Oh well. Thanks again and happy New Year!
posted by reren at 1:33 PM on January 3, 2018