Since when do we say, in France, "I love you"?
Where does this expression come from?
In the Europe 1 program "Historically yours", Stéphane Bern looks every day at the roots of an expression of everyday life.
Monday, he is interested in the origins of the verb "kiffer", a term which expresses love or pleasure and which draws its origins in the arrival in France of a plant: cannabis.
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.
Monday, the host explains the roots of the verb "kiffer", promise of pleasure.
Whether you love each other, people love you, or even overkill you, it's all about love and pleasure.
A meaning that has nothing to do with that of the expression "kif kif bourricot", the roots of which we explained to you earlier.
And these two expressions come to us from the Arabic language.
Kiffer comes unsurprisingly from "kiff", a North African word meaning "fun" and "pleasure".
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Until the 17th century, it was directly associated with alcohol.
100 years later it refers to anything that causes fictitious bliss.
In 1853, the French Petit Robert put the feet in the dish by speaking "of a state of bliss caused by a mixture of tobacco and Indian hemp".
The Arabs of Egypt indeed call hashish the "kéif".
Cannabis, a (not so) secret plant
It is in fact in the 13th century, in a convent installed in the heart of the Persian mountains, that one finds for the first time the trace of the famous plant, that the Sheikh Haïder would have discovered by chance. After having had his disciples taste it, they would all have found themselves "in a cheerful and joyous disposition". Seeing this, he made his friends promise to keep this plant a secret and not to tell anyone about it. Needless to say, it didn't work out.
Some time later, in October 1800, the young general Napoleon, who was almost stabbed by a hashish smoker, issues a decree to ban its consumption in France. Here again, no time wasted. Fortunately, if you hear "kiffer" today, you are not necessarily in the company of a consumer of illicit products. It just means great pleasure close to bliss. Let's end with a nice word from TV host Laurent Ruquier: "I'm not for the legalization of cannabis, especially since I can find it easily."