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Friday, December 30, 2011 Publié par Eric Tenin
We have an expression in French that goes "se mettre sur son 31", which means to dress up for a special occasion. Nobody knows its origins, but some people believe it's linked to December 31, the day people usually dress up well to celebrate the end of the year... I don't buy this version, but this window made me think of it and I thought it was appropriate for new year's eve eve! Hold your breath everyone... only one day left!
December 30, 2011 12:07:00 AM GMT+01:00
I love hearing French expressions. There is a saying in the U.S. about being "dressed up to the nines" but I don't know where that comes from either.
December 30, 2011 12:24:00 AM GMT+01:00
Ah! Je comprend maintenant. Eric Lagerfeld wants a new tuxedo for the New Year's Eve party, and he's eating salads to make sure he fits into it.
December 30, 2011 1:36:00 AM GMT+01:00
@Monnica - here's my understanding of "dressed to the nines" -- it comes from the days of those big flouncing hoop skirts - and, it took nine yards of material to make a very nice dress!
December 30, 2011 3:24:00 AM GMT+01:00
Thanks, Carrie—I always wondered about that one!
Eric -- whatever you're wearing on New Year's Eve, I'm sure you'll be très élégant—en tout cas, je te souhaite une trés bonne année, mon ami!
December 30, 2011 5:49:00 AM GMT+01:00
I read this expression in Canada is "sur son 36" - so odd - I wonder where it comes from. Eric - reading your post from yesterday - if I lived in Paris, I'd never both with McDonalds!
December 30, 2011 9:29:00 AM GMT+01:00
What a great shot this is. The window looks like a puppet box.
December 30, 2011 3:48:00 PM GMT+01:00
Now those are some sleek Parisian gentlemen...what a fun pic. I'm imagining them resuming conversation once nobody is peering in. ; )
December 30, 2011 4:10:00 PM GMT+01:00
LOL What a fun picture! I can totally imagine the conversation in there when no one is around...mainly being, "How long do those women NEED in the bathroom anyway?" :)
Happy New Year's Eve eve!
December 30, 2011 8:19:00 PM GMT+01:00
Thanks, Carrie - now if we could only find out the meaning of "se mettre sur son 31" :)
December 30, 2011 9:58:00 PM GMT+01:00
Voila..En Français...Intéressant. Sorry, don't have time to create a link.
http://www.linternaute.com/expression/langue-francaise/49/se-mettre-sur-son-31/
On ne connaît pas l’origine exacte de cette expression. Toutefois, plusieurs hypothèses ont été émises. La première concernerait la Prusse. Il s’agirait du 31 du mois, qui n’arrive que 7 fois par an, date à laquelle les troupiers recevraient un supplément pour terminer le mois. On aurait alors organisé à cette occasion tous les 31 du mois une visite des casernes, où les soldats devaient nettoyer de fond en comble leur paquetage pour avoir l’air les plus beaux possibles. La seconde explication se base sur l’ancienne forme "se mettre sur" pour "mettre sur soi", "s’habiller". Le chiffre 31 serait tout simplement une déformation de "trentain" qui désignait un drap très luxueux.
December 30, 2011 10:09:00 PM GMT+01:00
Apart from the soldiers and cloth above, I've found some other possibilities, though all seem to say the origin is unknown. The ussage of the word trentain - which means a superior grade of fine cloth - was used from the 12th to the 16th C and se mettre a son 31 only began being used in 1833, so this does not seem likely. There was also a game of cards in use int he 19thC called trent et un in which the most sought after point - thus le plus beau - was the 31st point.
December 30, 2011 10:11:00 PM GMT+01:00
*began being used in 1833* - I should say first recorded in 1833.
December 30, 2011 10:13:00 PM GMT+01:00
Also read that the phrase has been recorded as using different numbers at different times, which only confuses matters more: 36 in 1867, 32 in 1834, and 42 in 1846!
December 30, 2011 10:16:00 PM GMT+01:00
Well - regardless of how high your number goes, Happy New Years to PDP'ers (and everyone else) all over the world!!
December 30, 2011 10:59:00 PM GMT+01:00
A child of five would understand this. Send someone to fetch a child of five. I've got the brain of a four year old. I'll bet he was glad to be rid of it.
Well, art is art, isn't it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.
(Thank you, Groucho Marx)