Every day in "Historically yours", Stéphane Bern offers to discover the origins of expressions that we use on a daily basis without necessarily knowing where they come from.
Wednesday, the host looks at the origin of "to assemble the bourrichon", which is used today to designate in particular a person who is deluding himself.
Every day, in
Historically yours
, Stéphane Bern suggests discovering the origins of expressions that we use every day.
Wednesday, the host returns to "ride the bourrichon", a phrase currently used to designate someone who pits one person against another, or a person who is delusional, who rides his head.
A basket longer than it is wide
"The basket comes from the basket, which in the 16th century means a basket longer than it is wide, coarsely woven, without a handle. It was used to transport game or seafood (hence the oyster basket) . But in 1846, the basket became a slang word which designates the head. A meaning that continues to this day. Riding the bourrichon then means making someone gain height or value. But the formula quickly takes a pejorative turn and therefore means giving value to something or someone who does not have it.
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The expression was particularly appreciated by Gustave Flaubert.
Aware that it was necessary to exalt oneself to become a novelist, he wrote: 'As you have to be a jerk to write literature, and how blessed are the grocers.'
Note that another expression is used in Brazil to say to ride the bourrichon: 'to become pregnant by the ears'. "