“Damn”, “shit”, “name of Zeus”, “asshole”, “paper mache bag”… These swear words come to us directly from our ancestors. Already in Ancient Greece, Socrates swore a lot. During the Middle Ages, blasphemies were severely punished, so alternatives emerged. Today, certain swear words have remained very popular in France.
To discover the swear words of our ancestors, Sidonie Bonnec receives Christophe Brichant. Passionate about the French language, he took a close interest in swear words and co-wrote the book Swear words, onomatopoeia and interjections published by Editions de l’Opportun.
Swear words invented in the Middle Ages to circumvent blasphemy
Blasphemy is an insult pronounced against a deity or a religion. It was severely punished in the Middle Ages. Charlemagne, who did not like blasphemies at all, had foreseen a heavy sanction. The author of a blasphemy against God was sentenced to death, as well as the person who witnessed it if he had not denounced it. In the 1200s, Saint-Louis was a little less severe: blasphemers were branded with a hot iron on the forehead. In case of recidivism, it was the turn of their tongue and their lip to be pierced with iron.
To speak swear words without blaspheming, alternatives have been invented and new swear words have entered the vocabulary. The substitution of the “d” by the “b” in the name of God thus gave rise to the following words: “parbieu”, “morbieu”, “corbieu”, “ventrebieu”, and even “harnibieu”. Subsequently, “bieu” became “blue”.
Another tip was to talk about the body of God : “palsambleu” (by the blood of God), “corbleu” (by the body of God), “fuck of God”, “firecracker of God”, “mouth of God”, “ass of God”, “good blood of God” or “good God of good blood”. Some of these swear words are still used today.