‘gavroche’: meaning and origin
USA, 1863—a street urchin, especially in Paris, France—from ‘Gavroche’, the name of a street urchin in Les Misérables (1862), a novel by Victor Hugo
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notes on phrases such as ‘nom de crinoline’ and ‘nom de freak’
On the pattern of phrases such as ‘nom de guerre’, ‘nom de théâtre’ and ‘nom de plume’, ‘nom de —’ is used, often humorously, to form phrases denoting a pseudonym, an alternative name.
Read More‘to have two left feet’ and synonymous phrases
‘to have two left feet’: to be clumsy or awkward—postdates synonymous ‘to have two left hands’ (1815), loan translation of French ‘avoir deux mains gauches’—‘left’ has long been associated with inferior performance, awkwardness and insincerity
Read More‘to have a foot in both camps’: meaning and origin
UK, 1854—to belong to, or to sympathise with, two opposite groups, factions, etc.—probably a loan translation from French ‘avoir un pied dans les deux camps’ (1843)
Read More‘croque-monsieur’: meaning and origin
France, 1891; UK, 1908—a sandwich filled with ham and cheese, and toasted or grilled—from ‘croque’, conjugated form of the verb ‘croquer’, to bite, to crunch, and the noun ‘monsieur’ (the reason that this noun was chosen is unknown)
Read More‘if my aunt had balls’ | ‘si ma tante en avait’
used to rebuke an unrealistic conditional—USA, 1808: ‘if my aunt had been my uncle, what would have been her gender?’—France, 1843: ‘si ma tante était un homme, ça serait mon oncle’ (‘if my aunt were a man, that would be my uncle’)
Read More‘calligram’: meaning, origin and early occurrences
a word or piece of text in which the design and layout of the letters creates a visual image related to the meaning of the words themselves—from French ‘calligramme’, coined in 1918 by the French poet Guillaume Apollinaire—from ‘calligraphie’ and ‘idéogramme’
Read More‘amour fou’: meaning and origin
uncontrollable or obsessive passion—French phrase introduced in the 1960s as a theme of drama, prose narrative and cinema
Read More‘a storm in a teacup’ | ‘une tempête dans un verre d’eau’
a great commotion about a trivial matter—‘a storm in a teacup’: UK, 1775—‘une tempête dans un verre d’eau’: France, 1785
Read More‘anything for a quiet wife’ | ‘anything for a quiet life’
‘anything for a quiet wife’ (1875)—jocular variant of ‘anything for a quiet life’ (ca. 1620), which expresses concession or resigned agreement, to ensure one is not disturbed
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word histories 