They have had their day.
After years of hard work, certain words in the French language are falling out of use.
Quietly, on tiptoe.
Who today still knows the meaning of "tatin"?
Where does the verb “s'esbigner” use?
They have gradually been replaced by more contemporary terms.
So goes our language.
Its renewal testifies to its vitality.
The editorial staff invites you to rediscover these lost words, which will certainly make you shine in society.
” READ ALSO – Will you be able to defy these traps of the French language?
● Baboo
“Stop making baboos”.
Perhaps you have heard this phrase from your grandmother before.
“Baboue” is a pretty extinct word, which means “grimace”.
It is very old since in Middle French, it designated an "old witch with big lips", according to the Treasure of the French language.
Old French
baboe
is also related to "baboon", which referred to a "deformed or silly man".
We also spoke at the time of the Order of the Baboue, which was a society of drinkers.
Old French
baboe
is also cognate with "babouin", which meant "deformed or silly man".
● Escobar
Be careful if you are called that!
An “escobar” is a character “hypocritical, knowing how to use skillful subterfuges to achieve his ends or to justify them”, one reads in the thesaurus.
The verb "escobarder" describes the fact of acting, of speaking in escobar.
"L'escobarderie" designates the habitual practice of hypocrisy in the manner of an escobar.
The word was formed from the name of a Spanish Jesuit, Antonio Escobar y Mendoza, author of a work on casuistry (part of theology which deals with cases of conscience).
Pascal attacked him in Les
Provinciales
, reproaching him for advocating lax morality.
Molière, Boileau and La Fontaine followed suit, and this is how this surname became a common adjective in our language.
Before falling into oblivion.
● Querulence
Every surly soul should know this word.
The "querulence", derived from "querulent", designates the pathological tendency to seek quarrels.
We all know a person who claims, in a disproportionate way, the repair of a prejudice, real or imaginary.
You will now be able to qualify it as "querulent", according to the definition of the
Dictionary of Francophones
.
The word is derived from the Latin
querulus
"complaining".
● Swivel
A person is “swirled” when they are in a cheerful and lively mood.
This pretty verb was formed after the “swivel”, a small diurnal bird of prey of the falcon type, which was once trained for hunting, informs the dictionary.
The adjective describes the brilliance of someone who comes alive, like the piercing eye of the swivel.
● Hospitality
This word is not a fanciful invention that would offend the French language.
“Welcome” does exist, and has the meaning of “willingness to welcome”.
It used to be used to say “to welcome” or “to welcome”.
In the 13th century, there was thus the phrase
faire accueillance de somebody
, that is to say “to welcome him, to win him over to his cause”.
In the 16th century, to signify that we welcomed a guest in a courteous manner, we used this charming word.
