But what does "patachonner" mean, used Tuesday by Emmanuel Macron?

Open the dictionaries wide. Always quick to use an astonishing vocabulary, Emmanuel Macron did it again, on Tuesday, on the sidelines of a trip to Pau (Pyrénées-Atlantiques).

Interrogated by a striking teacher about pensions, the Head of State lends himself to a lively exchange, during which several subjects are accused of him pell-mell. "You wander in the head!" objects there. You mix everything, it has nothing to do. "

This morning, upon his arrival at the Palais Beaumont in Pau, @EmmanuelMacron was questioned by a teacher from Morlaas on the pension and education reform pic.twitter.com/0wceJ1Agu1

The expression could have raised questions. On the Internet, the verb "patachonner" refers to very rare occurrences. Difficult to find meaning. However, the word did exist in the French language. It dates back to the so-called "Belle Époque" period, at the crossroads of the 19th and 20th centuries.

"Wander"

"Patachonner means to wander without rationality," says semiologist Mariette Darrigrand. By extension, that can mean being a little crazy. This term can also have a sexual connotation: to lead a life of patachon, it is to be an enjoyer… ”

According to the creator of the blog L'Observatoire Des Mots, the expression was mainly prized in the journalistic and literary milieu, for example among theater critics or in chronicles of nightlife. "It's not slang, on the contrary," she recalls. The tongue is held. However, it is extremely dated. "

Did the Head of State draw this term from the expressions dear to his grandmother, who is said to have retained the famous "carabistouilles" and "Perlimpinpin powder"? Its use is in any case, for this specialist in media discourse, rather correct.

"He zigzags in his head"

The bellicose teacher "mixed a lot of things", as if he escaped a "path of reason" dear to Emmanuel Macron, she deciphers. "He kind of zigzags in his head".

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On the merits, the President of the Republic can however give "the impression of being beside modernity, of real life, even of being arrogant and elitist", estimates Mariette Darrigrand. “Politics is not only reason: it is also emotion. "A field on which the head of state may not have been able to find the right words this time. Despite all its lexicon.