The Limited Times

Now you can see non-English news...

Autumn-scented expressions

2021-11-14T08:27:13.614Z


Some of our expressions seem straight out of a late season orchard ... and just begging to be cultivated.


Autumn has arrived, misted up in its scarf of fog, with its warm, dormant colors, its cold scents of the wet countryside… without forgetting its fruits!

In this regard, some of our expressions seem straight out of a late season orchard, and begging to be cultivated.

"Between pear and cheese"

Here is an expression which is becoming obsolete ... To fully understand its origin, it is necessary to consider that in France, until the end of the 17th century, the fruits - the pear and the apple in the first place, because very appreciated - are served before shaping which serves as a "dessert".

Thus,

"between the pear and the forming"

first meant towards the end of the meal, a moment conducive to peaceful conversation since (it is well known) the pleasures of the table promote gaiety and therefore, all the more so, the untying of tongues.

The inversion of fruit and cheese in our culinary habits gradually brings a new meaning to this phrase, which now refers to a free and relaxed moment between two events.

Let us not forget to specify that we borrowed this new gastronomic arrangement from the Spaniards, at the end of the Dutch war.

"A bone of contention"

This is a much more common expression, unlike the previous one, and for good reason: we never run out of contentious issues. Let us go back to the mythological origins of the said fruity metaphor. Furious at not having been invited to the wedding banquet of Thetis and Peleus organized on Olympus, Eris - the goddess of Discord - launches into the midst of the guests (let's hope that she did not do it between the pear and the cheese!) a golden apple from the Garden of the Hesperides, intended for “the most beautiful” of goddesses. Hera, Aphrodite and Athena then begin to argue over the fruit. Unwilling to take a stand, Zeus asks the shepherd Pâris to decide between the goddesses. All three plead their cause: Hera promises Paris the riches of all of Asia, Athena undertakes to give him victory in each battle,and Aphrodite offers him the love of Helena of Sparta, the most beautiful woman in the world. This is how the young shepherd chooses to bestow the golden apple of discord on Aphrodite. This act will have for consequences the departure of Paris to go to seduce Hélène, the return of the couple to Troy, and the start of a war by Ménélas, husband of Hélène, anxious to avenge the suffered betrayal. It is therefore necessary to recognize that the fruits can make us see green and unripe ...It is therefore necessary to recognize that the fruits can make us see green and unripe ...We must therefore recognize that the fruits can make us see green and unripe ...

"Come for plums"

You have to go back to the time of the Second Crusade to understand the origin of this expression. In 1148, the siege of Damascus ended in bitter failure for the French crusaders who did not win any military victory. But this expedition turns out to be fruitful on another level despite everything, since by attacking Damascus from the west, the French have the opportunity to discover the orchards of the city which provide them with an important food supply. This is how the crusaders taste the small plums of Damascus for the first time. They delighted in it to such an extent that they decided to take plum trees on the occasion of their return to France, in 1149. The French army therefore returned defeated and without glory, but with plums. This return would not have been to the taste of King Louis VII the Younger,who would have reproached his knights for having led nearly two years of fighting for plums.

The least we can say is that beyond their alliteration in “p”, pears, apples and plums are fruits with half-fig, half-grape repercussions.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2021-11-14

You may like

News/Politics 2024-03-07T12:37:42.060Z
News/Politics 2024-03-10T03:57:35.132Z
Life/Entertain 2024-03-27T14:46:22.545Z
Life/Entertain 2024-03-15T06:45:25.520Z

Trends 24h

News/Politics 2024-03-27T16:45:54.081Z

Latest

© Communities 2019 - Privacy

The information on this site is from external sources that are not under our control.
The inclusion of any links does not necessarily imply a recommendation or endorse the views expressed within them.