This is a sentence that hit the mark.
Tuesday, January 4, Emmanuel Macron said in the columns of Parisien-Today in France that he "
very much wanted to piss off the unvaccinated
".
A remark that triggered the ire of his political opponents but also of part of the French, who felt insulted.
If he is not the first to use a trivial word, what does the use of this register symbolize in the public sphere and more particularly by a head of state?
"
Piss off
": "
cover with shit
"
The word "
emmerder
" appears in French in the 15th century and literally means "
to cover with shit
". Its meaning broadened in the 19th century to say: "
to make fun of someone, to ignore him
", according to the Trésor de la langue française. If it is described as "
trivial
" in dictionaries, the French have already had the opportunity to hear it from the mouth of a public figure. "
This is not the first time that a president has used this word
", underlines Bertrand Périer, lawyer, specialist in public speaking and author of Sauve qui parle (JC Lattès, 2021).
Georges Pompidou had used it before him (
Editor 's note
"We must stop pissing off the French") but from a different perspective.
In his mouth, the word "piss off" was positive.
It is the opposite with Emmanuel Macron.
He claims the fact "to piss off", when Pompidou rejected this idea. "
To read also "Piss off", "lazy", "brothel" ... the shocking language of Macron
The lawyer points to the "
verbal violence
" of the subject, which illustrates a relaxation of language on the part of the president: "
It's quite incongruous on his part, because he usually has a very sought after and sometimes outdated language.
This sentence does not go at all with his language habits, he who often brings up to date expressions that are a little outdated.
Let us remember that sometimes a dictionary was needed (what to understand in "pique-bœuf", "to do kid jumps"?), Or even to remember your Latin lessons (what about
"in petto", “Pacta sunt servanda”
?), To understand it.
Vulgar language: witness to "the violence of our time"
If we analyze his response as a whole, Emmanuel Macron repeats the verb “
piss off
” three times.
"Pardon me for saying it like that, pissing
her off [Editor's note the
" small minority of unvaccinated "
]
even more. Me, I'm not for pissing off the French. [...] Well, there, the unvaccinated, I really want to piss them off. "
An occurrence which is not trivial. The verb is conjugated in the active form. Emmanuel Macron thus places himself as an actor of "
boredom
". Note also the chiasm structure of the two sentences. "
Me
" refuses
to "piss off the French
" but the "
non-vaccinated
", "
I really want to piss them off
".
He thus opposes the French and the unvaccinated.
This reinforces symbolic violence, by making them a "scapegoat", that is, "the
only ones responsible for something
", according to Le Larousse.
"
Emmanuel Macron's sentence would not have had the same impact if he had said" I want to annoy the unvaccinated "",
notes Bertrand Périer.
By using this word, he indulges in a rhetoric which, according to the author, does not fall within the role of a president:
“It is an unfortunate word.
It marks a degradation of the presidential function
, he regrets.
You can tell the truth, "speak the truth", while keeping fit. "
See alsohttps: //www.lefigaro.fr/vox/politique/arnaud-benedetti-le-macronisme-est-le-trumpisme-des-elites-20220105
For Jean Sommer, author of
The voice, this tool of power
at JC Lattès in 2020, such use of foul language is "
a reflection of the violence of our time
".
If Macron is not his first linguistic slippage, his predecessors also have their say.
From " get
rid of you poor idiot
" to "
toothless
", politicians no longer hesitate to mix up trivial terms.
What is more today, in the age of social networks.
"The language has become impoverished
, adds Jean Sommer,
everyone speaks as if on Twitter"
and does not hesitate to multiply verbal jousting.
This sentence shows a leveling of political speech towards that of social networks: a shocking, effective and familiar phrasing.
“You have to grab the reader, hold their attention in seconds and make sure they remember something
,” the author continues.
And it goes through words that shake and create emotion.
“
Today, under the pretext of speaking truth, of being 'cash', we allow ourselves to relax the language
,” concludes Bertrand Périer
.