In "Historically Yours", Stéphane Bern always has the last word and tells us the story of a phrase or expression.
Tuesday, he explains to us the origins of bringing oranges ", used during a visit to a person in prison or to alert on illegal behavior. To understand, you have to go back in time, to the 19th century.
Why does the expression "bring oranges" apply in a context of visiting someone in prison? A priori, difficult to say. However, the French language associates these fruits and the prison world, in particular to alert someone to the fact that their behavior is
illegal.
"Be careful, I will end up bringing you oranges"
, we warn then.
To understand, we have to go back to 19th century France.
This is what
Stéphane Bern
explained on
Tuesday in "Historically yours" on Europe 1.
>> Find the shows of Matthieu Noël and Stéphane Bern in replay and podcast here
The story of Senator René Béranger
At the end of the 19th century, René Béranger, attorney general in Lyon, deputy for Drôme, then senator for life, was a man obsessed with good morality and a fierce opponent of the emancipation of women.
Nicknamed the "Father modesty", he was even the laughing stock of a musical group called "the four bearded".
The refrain was none other than this: "Mr. Béranger, you piss us off, Mr. Béranger, you piss us off."
It is in this context that we will find the famous oranges.
In 1892 the Quat'z'Arts ball was held for the students of the fine arts of Paris.
At this party, Sarah Brown shows herself topless and disguised as Cleopatra.
Senator Béranger then decides to prosecute the students and demands that they go to prison.
A poet named Raoul Ponchon then writes these lines: "O Sarah Brown! If we imprison you, poor angel, on Sunday I will bring you oranges."
It is therefore from this poem that the expression still used today comes.
For the record, the judge finally decided to sanction the students only with a symbolic fine.