In "Historically yours" on Europe 1, Stéphane Bern looks at the roots of a French word or expression.

This Wednesday, the host is interested in the word "roast beef", long used by the French to designate the English.

A word that appeared in France from the 18th century.

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 Wednesday, the host explains to us why the French have long called the English, "roast beef". An insult that appeared three centuries ago, in full hatred of the French against their British neighbor.

"For a long time we called the English 'roast beef'. But did you know, under Napoleon, we even called the English army 'lobsters'. We also called them' the English ',' the brits', 'the engliches'. The origin of these nicknames comes from the military. British troops were known for their red uniforms. But the origin of this nickname also comes from the kitchen.

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In France, before the 18th century, we eat boiled meat.

Roast beef arrives and seduces France as Anglophobia is at its height in the country at the turn of the century.

In 1774, the word "roast beef", in reference to the English "roast beef", officially became an insult.

The word then means "English grilled meat".

Avoid French stew

The choice of this nickname comes from the dish but also from the particular tan that the English take when they expose themselves a little too much to the Norman sun.

But roast beef is also the dish that English caterers based in Calais served to their compatriots when they arrived from England.

A meal which was to console them and remind them of their mother country and which was to allow them to avoid the stew of the French, considered at the time devirilizing by the British.

Let's end with a quote that sums it all up, from the absolute icon Marianne Faithfull: "I began to understand the English the day I finally realized that they are saying the exact opposite of what they think."