Fowler/The King's English asserts that "nom de plume" was invented in English to "correct" the easily misapprehended "nom de guerre" (also, "nom de plume" was used in English before "pen name") and was presumably borrowed back by the French, who didn't themselves use the term. - ThreadSky

bcdreyer.social • 37 days ago

Fowler/The King's English asserts that "nom de plume" was invented in English to "correct" the easily misapprehended "nom de guerre" (also, "nom de plume" was used in English before "pen name") and was presumably borrowed back by the French, who didn't themselves use the term.

Comments

ostrakizon.bsky.social•37 days ago

There are a number of these in one form or another. "Morale" has an e to distinguish it from "moral" and preserve the French pronunciation; in Fr. there is no e. Double entendre is archaic in French, the sense now being given by double entente. Niche (Lat. nidus) is nitch not neesh.

bcdreyer.social•37 days ago

and

rick-geyer.bsky.social•37 days ago

I’m betting right now you point us to the correlation between this - de guerre vs de plume
and the legendary mightiness of one over the other…

empliau.bsky.social•37 days ago

I like Peter Cook in Bedazzled - "one of my many pseudoplumes or nom de nyms."

bcdreyer.social•37 days ago

As best I can tell—by, y'know, actually looking things up and not simply talking out my fundament—"nom de guerre" had been generalized in French to mean pseudonym long before the enterprising limeys devised "nom de plume."

raijimmaru.bsky.social•37 days ago

see also "dachshund."

arunadsouza.bsky.social•37 days ago

This is similar to the fashionable restaurant term “amuse bouche”—it’s not French. They use “amuse gueule,” which is less delicate.

bookaround.bsky.social•37 days ago

True.
As a French, I find the word "maitre d'" very funny because the hotel part of the phrase (maître d'hôtel) just disappeared, and the ' remained. It's like saying "King o" instead of "King of England."

bcdreyer.social•37 days ago

a "euphemistic hypercorrection," I'm just now reading

arunadsouza.bsky.social•37 days ago

Exactly!

muninnherself.bsky.social•37 days ago

Yeah I was told not to use this in UK food writing ‘cos it’s slightly vulgar!

endlessbookshelf.bsky.social•37 days ago

it was la plume de ma tante what done it

patchenbarss.bsky.social•37 days ago

When I sneak out to a fast food restaurant for some guilty pleasure and they ask my name for the order, I always use my nom de nom nom nom.

palkopalko.bsky.social•37 days ago

I knew a restaurant critic whose nom de nom nom nom actually was Norm De Nom Nom Nom, which must be nom-nom-nominative de-nom-nom-terminism

camille-can-fly.bsky.social•37 days ago

I need you to know that I thoroughly enjoyed this 😂😂😂

mathieuduplay.bsky.social•37 days ago

Tbh, as a French speaker, I am most familiar with the phrase "nom de guerre" in connection with Proust-era courtesans such as Liane de Pougy and Emilienne d'Alençon (the similarity with Swann's Odette de Crécy is obvs. intentional). But you are absolutely right and French dictionaries bear you out.

diggs6.bsky.social•37 days ago

Thanks. I would love to say I get smarter every time I learn something new from what you post, but I forget something else to make room for this info. So in the long run I break even.

ogmcduck.bsky.social•37 days ago

Also

Comments

Posting Rules

Reply