The French language is full of "colourful" expressions that are sometimes difficult to explain.
It is necessary to stop in front of these locutions and take the time to “draw their portrait”.
Sometimes, over time, the origins of words become opaque and lovers of the French language may "follow the red thread" of linguistics, these terms retain their mystery.
For example, wouldn't "quarter hair" refer to the brush?
The editorial team takes you to the land of paintings and colors, thanks to
100 expressions inspired by the art
of Sarah Belmont.
” READ ALSO – Do you know these ten words that come to us from India?
It is often said that art is at the heart of civilisations.
It would then be the “keystone” but… what exactly does this formula mean?
In Gothic architecture, the keystone is a stone placed in the axis of symmetry of an arch supporting the stones forming the arch of a vault.
By metaphor, the "keystone" designates an essential element of a project: the piece allowing it not to collapse.
Similarly, the expression "to be the cornerstone", coming from the world of architecture, designates the elementary foundation of a project.
"Pretty as a truck", "chewable"
Art, again, is often synonymous with beauty.
“To be as beautiful as a truck”, an ironic or even mocking expression today, was originally a flattering compliment.
A "truck" at the beginning of the 20th century, designated the bucket where the house painter diluted his paints, to perfect his preparations before applying them to the surface.
The expression refers to the making of an aesthetic mixture of colors, with a dazzling and dazzling effect.
To be "beautiful as a truck" was to be full of dazzling colors.
In short, "to be chewable".
The expression "crunching a head" is used to say that we are drawing a person.
When someone is "cute", it means that the person is so pretty that they should be portrayed.
An expression, then, in the image of beauty.
The “effigy” characterizes, according to
Littré
, a “
representation in relief or in painting of the figure of a person
”, although it can also designate an abstract concept.
To do something “in the effigy of someone” is to represent them, as the etymology of the word reminds us (“
effingo
” in Latin, which translates as “
to portray, to make in the image
”).
“Having a papier-mâché face” describes someone with a pale complexion.
The expression refers to the whitish color of papier-mâché.
Then a "bad look" and "paper mache" became one in the 19th century to create the phrase as we know it.
Expressions of Fine Arts
Let's also note "being a cart" and "a quarter of the hair", two expressions born at the École des Beaux-Arts.
The first formula, born in the middle of the 19th century, qualifies someone late in rendering a project.
Architecture students from the Beaux-Arts had to return their work no later than Friday noon.
In a hurry, running against the clock and encumbered by their models, many are those who then rented carts to send their work on time, shouting "cart to the ass" in order to keep the crowd away from the street.
"A quarter of the hair" means something that has been done in a precise, meticulous way.
At the Beaux-Arts, "au poil" translated a notion of precision and perfection, referring to details made with the hair of a brush.
When it was democratized and extended to other areas, the "quarter hair" version took over.
Thanks to the
100 expressions inspired by art,
we also rediscover the expression “a beer sign”.
It is a synonym of "crust" and designates a failed painting.
In the 17th century, tavern keepers called on painters to decorate the front of their stalls, but these paintings, made by “Sunday painters” (also called “crouters”), were hastily executed and often failed.