The phrase comes from a 2018 remark by French president Emmanuel Macron, who told a young jobseeker that he could cross the street and find him work. The comment was widely quoted, criticised and turned into a meme in France, where it became shorthand for confident, out-of-touch advice about employment. Short clips of the line now circulate on soundboards and in edits, often used ironically whenever someone suggests that finding a job is simply a matter of walking across the road.