To go to hell
is to go very far or to send someone very far to... Pétaouchnok!
The expression appears in the 15th century.
Its legend was told for the first time by Nicolas Bonfons in 1561. In his
Historical Essays on Paris
, published in the 18th century, Germain-François Poullain de Saintfoix, historiographer of the king's orders, mentions the Château de Vauvert, also called Château de Val Green, located near Paris:
“
Saint Louis
was so edified by the story told to him of the austere & silent life of the disciples of Saint Bruno, that he summoned six of them, & gave them a house with gardens & vineyards in the village of Gentilli.
These monks saw from their windows the palace of Vauvert, built by King Robert, abandoned by his successors, and which could be made into a convenient and pleasant monastery by the proximity of Paris.
As luck would have it, spirits or ghosts took it into their heads to seize this old castle.
You could hear specters dragging chains, and among others a green monster with a big white beard, half man and half snake, armed with a big club, and who always seemed ready to rush at night on passers-by.
What to do with such a castle?
The Carthusians asked Saint Louis for it, he gave it to them with all the appurtenances & dependencies.
The ghosts never returned there;
the name of hell only remained in the street in memory of all the uproar the Devils had made there.
»
To read also“Do you want a schluck?”
: what does this expression mean?
Several explanations dispute the origin of the expression, among others that many places, often located outside the capital, once included the name of Vauvert.
As travel was, at that time, difficult and slow, Parisians going to Vauvert left for a long journey.
Excerpt from
The most beautiful expressions of our regions
.
Find the entire book on our Figaro Store.
