Today is Bastille Day. So here, for your political edification, is a history of the French Revolution done entirely in terms of when words first appeared in the English language. All of them, of course, imported from the French. Aristocrat
1790
Sans Culotte
1791
Capitalist, Functionary
Regime, Commune, Emigre
1793
Demoralise (meaning to corrupt) , Disorganise, Guillotine
1795
Terrorism
1798
TricolourThere's a fantastic Blake poem called The French Revolution, but I can't find it on the web.
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http://www.archive.org/stream/williamblakehisp00nicouoft/williamblakehisp00nicouoft_djvu.txt
ReplyDeleteYou can find The French Revolution text at the above link.
Love your Blog BTW!
Hi, I just wondered if you had any thoughts about my post here:
ReplyDeletehttp://thegeorgecareyfanclub.blogspot.com
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I have visited, read, and commented. It seems to me a fine explanation of "cocking a snook".
ReplyDelete(When playing a chicken at billiards, it's possible to snooker a cock).
Anon, thank you.
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ReplyDeleteAnd "chauvinist" (circa 1800). It derives from the likely mythical Nicolas Chauvin, a soldier in the Grande Armee who was so dedicated to the glory of the French nation that he spawned a term which came to mean blind patiotism. Chauvin apparently went round wearing a violet in his lapel (quelle fashion erreur) even after 1815 when Bonapartism was nolonger en vogue in restoration France. He suffered for his loyalty - not being let into the top Parisian nightclubs for being dressed right - among other hardships.
ReplyDeleteBy extension, chauvinism evolved to mean unreasoning partisanship. And for some reason in English it has been inextricably linked with sexism, or male chauvinism - odd considering Chauvin sounds like quite the dandy.