“Fafelu.
[said of a food] Plump, consistent ”.
For example, “
Pasté estoit fafelu
.
“Beyond this curious spelling attested in the 15th century and mentioned in our Middle French dictionaries, here is a surprising meaning.
Because since Malraux, who bequeathed the word to us in its modern sense in 1921, the eccentric has been less fleshy than absurd.
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What is the origin of the wacky word?
However, on closer inspection, when we encounter the
eccentric
word
at Rabelais, the first probably to add an
r
to the initial word
fafelu
, we easily perceive in his
Quart Livre
that this “
big wild and eccentric cervelas
”, which puts under the eyes while making Pantagruel salivate, does not correspond at all to the current meaning of the adjective. "
True God, he was fat
", exclaims Pantagruel, in front of a cervelas which cannot be "
inconsistent and somewhat crazy
", but plump and consistent as desired. However, despite this
Rabelaisian
r
,
fafelu
continued on its way at least until the 18th century.
We know that French must
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