In the Europe 1 program "Historically yours", Stéphane Bern examines the roots of an expression of everyday life.
Monday, the host returns in "The word of the end" on the origins of the expression "vas-y mollo" which means to go slowly, without getting tired.
Stéphane Bern suggests every day, in
Historically yours
with Matthieu Noël, to discover these expressions that we use on a daily basis without necessarily knowing their origin.
This Monday, the host tells us about "take it easy" which encourages people to do things without hurrying.
If the word comes from Italian, we find in France an expression of navigation which could also have inspired the current turn.
Between Italian slang and French navy
"The expression 'vas-y mollo' comes from the Italian slang and more precisely from the verb
mollare
which means to abandon.
Mollo
is to drop, to let go, but also to wet, to soak. Coincidence or not, in French, in language sailor, when we could take a boat and paddle to land we said “go soft water.” The water is calm, we sail slowly, so we go there “soft water.” Everything overlaps.
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When you take it easy, you don't get tired and generally, you do things better.
Because as the famous Italian proverb says '
chi va piano va sano'
.
A Greek proverb says 'whoever hurries stumbles'.
In the United States there is the expression '
slow and steady wins the race'
which can be translated as 'who goes slowly and steadily wins the race'.
It is reminiscent of La Fontaine's hare and tortoise, while in Poland there is also a very nice saying that 'haste is only indicated to catch fleas'. "