Weird Words » french

Filibuster

sarahscully — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 18:10:04 +0000

The word “filibuster” can be traced back to a label given to pirates who marauded trade routes in the 17th and 18th centuries. It originated from the Dutch word vrijbuiter, which literally translates to “freebooter,” [vrij (“‘free’”) +‎ buit (“‘booty’”) +‎ er].

The term spread across Europe with the Spanish and French translating it into filibustero and filibustier, respectively.

Americans adapted the spelling and pronunciation to “filibuster” and expanded the definition to include mercenaries engaged in illicit military actions against foreign governments, referring in particular to Southern adventurers in Latin America.

In the mid-1800s, “filibuster” became popular in the U. S. Congress as a euphemism for delaying or blocking the passing of legislation by taking advantage of the procedural rules to hold the floor for inordinate amounts of time. Senator Huey Long (D-LA) demonstrated a particular talent for filibustering, reciting everything from Shakespeare to recipes for Southern dishes for up to 15 hours at a time.

Plaintiff

dave — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 21:22:23 +0000

We won’t complain about the origins of ‘plaintiff,’ although ‘complain’ and ‘plaintiff’ are probably distantly related. ‘Complain’ is thought to derive ultimately from ‘plangere,’ a Latin word meaning ‘to strike, beat one’s breast, or lament.’ ‘Plangere’ is an ancestor of ‘plaintiff’ too.

‘Plaintiff’ comes most immediately from the Middle English ‘plaintif,’ itself a Middle French borrowing; in Middle French, ‘plaintif’ functioned both as a noun and as an adjective meaning ‘lamenting, complaining.’ That ‘plaintif’ in turn comes from the Middle French ‘plaint,’ meaning ‘a lamentation.’ (The English words ‘plaintive’ and ‘plaint’ are also descendents of these Middle French terms.) And ‘plaint’ comes from the Latin ‘planctus,’ past participle of “plangere.” Logically enough, ‘plaintiff’ applies to the one who does the complaining in a legal case.

Out of the blue

dave — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 20:33:24 +0000

Thomas Carlyle (1837). The French Revolution.

‘Arrestment, sudden really as a bolt out of the blue, has hit strange victims.’

Marshall

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 03:13:55 +0000

A logical assumption is that ‘marshal’ is related to ‘martial,’ but the resemblance is purely coincidental. Although most French words are derived from Latin, a few result from the 3rd-century Germanic occupation of France, and the early French ‘mareschal’ is one such word. ‘Mareschal’ came from Old High German ‘marahscalc,’ formed by combining ‘marah’ (horse) and ‘scalc’ (servant). ‘Mareschal’ originally meant ‘horse servant,’ but by the time it was borrowed into Middle English in the 13th century, it described a French high royal official. English applied the word to a similar position, but it eventually came to have other meanings. By contrast, ‘martial’ derives from ‘Mars,’ the Latin name for the god of war, and is completely unrelated.

If the shoe Fits, Wear It

admin — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 02:25:29 +0000

This is a misquote of another term:

John Ozell (1714) [translated] Moliere: “If the cap fits, put it on.”

Baptism by Fire

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 01:19:47 +0000

During the Franco-German war of 1870, Prince Louis Napoleon was first exposed, by direction of his father, Napoleon III, to the fire of the enemy at Saarbruck, the event was called a ‘baptism of fire’
Later, people changed it to Baptism by fire.

Chauvinistic

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:59:26 +0000

Chauvin was a soldier in the French Army during Napoleon’s time. He was know as the most nationalistic soldier in the French army.
People began to associate his name with nationalism and patriotism.
The Americans later used the term to describe the snobby French who believed that their country was better than others.
It eventually was perverted to the meaning today.

Apple Pie Order

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 00:34:59 +0000

‘It looks good, everything seems to be in apple pie order.’
Apparently comes from the French ‘nappes pliees’ meaning folded linen.

Carouse

admin — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 05:18:16 +0000

16th-century English revelers toasting each other’s health sometimes drank a brimming mug of spirits straight to the bottom — drinking ‘all-out,’ they called it.

German tipplers did the same and used the German expression for ‘all out’ — ‘gar aus.’

The French adopted the German term as ‘carous,’ using the adverb in their expression ‘boire (to drink) carous,’ and that phrase, with its idiomatic sense of ‘to empty the cup,’ led to ‘carrousse,’ a French noun meaning ‘a large draft of liquor.’

And that’s where English speakers picked up ‘carouse’ in the mid-1500s, first as a noun (which later took on the sense of a general ‘drinking bout’), and then as a verb meaning ‘to drink freely.’