On the eve of the fourth anniversary of the fire which partially destroyed Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral, Emmanuel Macron went this Friday, April 14 to the reconstruction site of the monument.
Accompanied by his wife, Brigitte Macron, the Minister of Culture Rima Abdul-Malak, and the Archbishop of Paris, Mgr Laurent Ulrich, the Head of State praised the work of apprentices, artisans and business leaders who work every day to restore the cathedral to its former glory.
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In 2019, the Head of State had given himself 5 years to rebuild the religious building.
A deadline that should be respected.
"It's when you set a course with an ambition that you can move"
, declared the President.
Before adding:
“Staying the course is my motto.”
But where does this expression come from?
"Toe to toe"
“It's a rock! It's a peak! It's a milestone! What am I saying, is it a course? It's a peninsula!"
, said Cyrano by Edmond Rostand in his famous “nose tirade”.
He then spoke of his physical prominence by comparing it to a promontory.
But it is not in this sense, born in the 14th century and that we find in the expression "crossing a cap" (which has become figuratively "crossing a decisive stage"), that the "cap" made its appearance. .
Derived from the Latin “caput”, via the Provençal “cap”, the word designates the “head”.
As can be read in
Alain Rey's Historical Dictionary
(Le Robert), it has been used since the end of the 9th century in French in this sense.
Out of use since, its trace remains in the 1300s expression "de pied en cap", meaning "from head to toe".
Read alsoWhat are the "factious" denounced by Emmanuel Macron?
From the 15th century, it was used in the navy to refer to a flat, oval and circular piece of wood, pierced with holes, in comparison with the emaciated head of a sheep.
Then, to talk about the "head" of the ship.
And finally from the direction of the front.
In 1883, Pierre Loti wrote in
Mon frères
:
“We can no longer see, night is coming, we have to set sail again.”
Figuratively, "to set the course" means, since the 17th century, "to move towards (a destination, a goal...)".
But it is still necessary to “hold” it, that is to say “keep the direction”.
An ambition that Emmanuel Macron seems to have.
