“The English Land”, “Have a Crush”: 9 French Expressions Inspired by Women

Some are used every day, almost mechanically. The French language is full of expressions that are sometimes very colorful and have an unsuspecting origin. This Wednesday, March 1, 2023, columnist France Inter Guillaume Meurice and director and writer Nathalie Gendrot publish a book that almost died in the egg.

First, End of history Due for release in September 2022 by Le Robert. But he explained that the publisher would have backed off the world, since the book “scratched” Vincent Bollore, it has Lee Robert Editions, the parent company of Vivendi’s major shareholder Editis. Thus, before being fished out by the flamerion, the comic dictionary was suspended.

For this authentic publication, the authors have collected 201 outdated or current French expressions, explaining their meaning and origin, in the “Aha Gallery”. Among them, humorous metaphors are drawn from women who mark the history of France, or from decidedly misogynistic myths.

Expressions derived from history

• The British have landed

No, King Charles III didn’t explode in the bathroom, which means these somewhat racist expression laws have been around since the 1830s.

Menstrual blood is represented here by the historic British military red line. If they land, it marks French defeats in 1814 and 1815 against a coalition of Austrians, Prussians, Russians and British that “occupied France until 1819,” the authors write. In the north of France, thousands of English soldiers settled with “women, children, dogs, owls, magpies, monkeys…”.

The expression, meaning “a treacherous blow,” comes from a female contest that led to the last royally sanctioned judicial duel in France, which was reinstated by Henry II on July 10, 1547. Five centuries.

Against the background of rumors of an extramarital affair, she antagonized François de Vivo, Lord of Chataineray, and Guy Chabot, Baron de Jarnac. “His sister, Anne, has become Diane de Poitiers’ worst enemy,” the book begins. Thus, Henry II’s favorite “spread the rumor that the Baron de Jarnac owed his fortune to the immoral favors he gave to his father-in-law”.

Faced with humiliation, Guy de Chabot asks the king for compensation, but he cannot attack the Dauphin, so the king demands a duel: “Diane appoints François de Vivonne, duke of La Chatainere, to represent him in a judicial duel. Her champion. God will show what is right and give him the victory.”

After intensive preparation, Guy de Chabot finally distinguished himself against the royal champion: “He prepared seriously with an Italian fencing master, Captain Casi, who taught him moves unknown in France. (…) [François de Vivonne ] Before Chabot pulls out his secret weapon, Chabot lands the first blow with his shield: a back thrust behind the knee. Leg split, the champion collapsed and submitted the next day.

By the 17th century, the authors write, it was “disgraceful” as being “equivalent to a skillful, unexpected gesture”.

Unlike the “posh” people, who were “of high rank, rich” and “sometimes wore a puff on their headgear”, “those who wore collars (…) lengthened their height”, “using a collar stiffened with starch” and supported by “cardboard or iron”.

Started by Catherine de’ Medici, the fashion was “considered obsolete and unfashionable” by the end of Louis XIII’s reign. Therefore, “the expression to be trapped becomes foolish to denote thrift, which may affect the brood.”

• At the princess’s expense

“The formula comes from the slang of civil servants, who call the administration the princess. When they make travel expenses for the princess, it’s because they put personal travel on the expense report,” Guillaume Meuris and Nathalie Gendrot write. This expression of providing a service free or paid for by the government comes from many historical women with blue blood.

Among them, “after the fall of the Bonapartist Empire in the 1820s (…)” at a time “royalty lost one queen, but there were two princesses”: Duchess of Angouleme, Marie-Thérèse Charlotte of France, daughter of Louis XVI and Marie-Caroline de Bourbon-Céciles. Or Josephine, “who was not a princess, but an empress, the first wife of Napoleon I”.

Solid old misogynistic principles

How many women have been ridiculed for being the boss or mentor in their relationship, referred to as “the one in underwear”? This sexual expression presupposes that the person making the order is wearing this dress, which “represents male attire” and “opposes the regulation petticoat for these women”.

Indeed breeches were “baggy trousers of cotton or velvet at the knees (…) the prerogative of nobles and dignitaries standing, while commoners, artisans, labourers, shopkeepers and artisans wore trousers.”

“He who wears underwear” and therefore holds the role of a rich master of a house, who later takes on the role of a man who has been in a couple for many years. “In the 1770s we owe this brave and respectful speech. A wife should be humble, quiet, always have the last word with her husband, and have a stick to remind him of these basic rules of etiquette” , mention the director and essayist.