In the Europe 1 program "Historically yours", Stéphane Bern examines the roots of an expression of everyday life.
Wednesday, he is interested in the origin of the word "gossip", a slang word which designates the rumors which one exchanges discreetly between colleagues or between friends, on the life of the stars or that of our entourage.
Stéphane Bern offers every day, in
Historically yours
with Matthieu Noël, to discover these expressions that we use on a daily basis without necessarily knowing their origin.
On Wednesday, the host explains to us the roots of "gossip", those rumors that are spread in all indiscretion.
Why, when we are passionate about gossip, the latest star scoops or rumors about crowned heads, do we say that we love gossip?
The expressions "gossip" or "peddle the latest gossip" designate rumors made to the subjects of well-known personalities, but also to colleagues.
Usually, they are shared in the coffee machine.
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To understand the origin of the word "gossip", let's go to 17th century Normandy.
Winter is harsh, it's cold, and (you can imagine) there isn't much on TV, radio, or Netflix.
As a result, the women of the villages gather at one or the other to tell each other the latest gossip.
From gossip to gossip
These ladies bring small terracotta pots containing embers.
They stand in a circle, arrange the pots at their feet.
The weather is better and we tell each other the news.
These little pots of embers were called "gossip".
An expression will also be born during this period: "gossip".
A formula that we no longer use at all these days.
In 1878, in the dictionary of Parisian jargon of Lucien Rigaud, enter the word "potin".
Its definition?
"Chat where a little truth is mixed with a lot of lies".
Let us end with this quote from Alfred Capus, journalist at
Le Figaro
at the beginning of the 20th century: "Despise slander, beware of gossip; forgive an insult, but never rudeness."