They are relieving.
One word too many, one inappropriate remark, and here we are, swearing or calling our interlocutor a bird's name.
If they are not punished, rudeness has the undeniable quality of signifying our discontent.
But did you know that there are plenty of them that we no longer use?
"Olibrius"
,
"sagouin"
,
"gougnafier"
,
"gourgandine"
... These algarades have fallen into disuse.
They once flourished the most explosive conversations.
The editorial team invites you to rediscover them, and to use them without moderation!
● “Smoker!”
If you are faced with a
"joker, a character that lacks seriousness and cannot be relied on"
, in other words, a lazy person, you can call it that.
The
“smoker”
was first
“the one who builds and maintains the fireplaces”
, then in the 19th century, a
“fanciful person”
.
The nickname comes from the expression
"it's a farce of a smoker"
, which was repeated every time by a facetious smoker, character in a vaudeville by Varner, Duvert and Lauzanne, entitled
La famille du fumiste
.
"This piece was performed for the first time at the Palais-Royal on February 5, 1840"
, we read in the Trésor de la langue française.
● “Gourgandine!”
Synonymous with
"prostitute"
, the word is very old. It was formed after the radical
gorre
, or
"syphilis"
,
gorasse
,
"coquette"
and de
gore, goure
,
"woman of bad life"
, and from the old Provençal
gandir
:
"to escape"
. The
"gourgandine"
is a
"light woman, easy, wanton"
, informs the CNRTL. It is also possible to use it in the masculine: a
"gourgandin"
is a
"girl runner"
, and the
"gourgaud"
is a
"scoundrel, a scoundrel"
.
Note that the first name
"Margaux"
is synonymous, in the green language,
"woman of light morals, bad life, who gets drunk
. "
● “Flycatcher!”
Foolish, credulous, naive, stupid ... The
"flycatcher"
is a slang expression which designates many things.
The image is evocative: it describes a person who
“swallows”
everything that is said to him, without any form of discernment, like an animal that swallows everything that comes to his mouth.
According to the living dictionary of the French language, which lists slang terms, the
"flycatcher"
is also a
"spy"
, a
"freemason"
, and a
"flâneur who stops at each shop"
.
● “Ras de palais!”
This pleasant metaphor is useful if one is faced with a vile character, who seeks to deceive.
It used to be used to describe a
"clerk of bailiff, a crooked businessman who seeks in the room of the pas-perdus to deceive someone"
, we read in
The dictionary of slang fin-de-siècle
(1894).
The
"ras de palais"
is more generally used to describe a dishonest person, with whom one cannot conclude a deal.
● “Ribaud!”
Here is someone
"debauched, shameless"
, who
"leads a dissolute life"
.
The
"ribaud"
is attested in French from the 12th century.
In the Middle Ages, he was a
"soldier forming part of a guard created by Philippe Auguste"
, then an
"adventurer who followed the army in search of looting"
.
It is subsequently synonymous with
"scum"
, notes the TLFi, and is said to qualify a
"bunch of scoundrels, scoundrels"
.
