Literal translation
he's a limpet
Meaning
he's a clingy sort of person
Explanation
A clingy person, compared to the arrapèdo, the Provençal name for the limpet, that conical shell stuck to rocks so firmly that a knife barely pries it loose, bare hands stand no chance. In Provençal, the verb arrapa (to hook onto) likely influenced the shellfish's very name. In areas far from the sea, another image circulates, that of the rapégon, those small spiny seeds that cling to clothes after walking through a field.