Just one word is sometimes all it takes. Suddenly, time halts, and we’re transported twenty years back—when slippers were forever known as ‘pantoufles’, when we’d meet each other in the ‘omnibus’, and when ‘tricots’ were all the rage. Language is a fickle beast: when things disappear, so do their words, or, more often, those charming old terms get swapped out for shinier, more modern ones. Ready to relive a bit of nostalgia? Here’s a bouquet of childhood words we wish would come back into style. Do you remember them?
Words Worn by Time: Why We Forget Them
It doesn’t take much—a word, a chance mention—and we’re right back in our past, hearing expressions that rarely grace modern lips. Some words are closely tied to objects and habits that have vanished. Others have simply fallen out of fashion, elbowed aside by catchier or more general terms. Let’s revisit five of these long-lost gems and the stories behind them—warning, you might find yourself yearning for a cardigan you never liked!
1. The Cardigan: Woolly Icon of Childhood
Does the memory of a knitted wool jacket, pressed on you by your mother—whether you were cold or not—ring a bell? That, dear reader, was the legendary cardigan. The word itself is as cozy as the garment: borrowed from English, it entered French in the latter half of the 19th century, apparently owing its name to a certain Earl of Cardigan, who earned fame during the Crimean War. These days, what used to be specifically a ‘cardigan’ is buried under the generic term ‘pull’, losing a bit of its unique flair. Ah, the price of progress—and warmer shoulders.
2. Soulier: The Elegant Ancestor of Shoes
“Put on your souliers, my dear.” Have you heard that? Modern shoes (or ‘chaussures’, ‘godasses’, ‘pompes’) can’t quite match the elegance and ancient charm of ‘soulier’. This word, documented as early as the twelfth century, described shoes covering all or part of the foot. Its roots dig deep into old French ‘sol(l)er’ and, less appetizingly, come from the Latin ‘subtel,’ meaning the hollow under the foot. Origins aside, ‘soulier’ holds an undeniable timeless grace, impossible to repackage with a modern twist.
More than Just Shops: Droguerie and Bigophone
- Droguerie: If your grandmother asks you to stop by the ‘droguerie,’ don’t call the police! The droguerie is an entirely legitimate establishment: it’s a place for the making and selling of herbal remedies, hygiene products, toiletries, cleaning, and household supplies. In bygone days, ‘drogues’ meant medicinal ingredients, too—covering remedies, aromatic ingredients, colors, or pharmaceutical substances. Today, reviving ‘droguerie’ seems fair; it brings back the memory of a word that once meant so much more than ‘drugs’ ever could.
- Bigophone: This delightfully odd word sadly no longer has a place. Once, ‘bigophone’ meant a burlesque musical instrument of various forms, played by singing into its mouthpiece—think ‘kazoo’ with a sense of humor. But that’s not all: ‘bigophone’ was also slang for a telephone, especially in military circles, and, by extension, a telephone line. Its inventor, named Bigot, inspired the name; thus, ‘bigophone’ blends ‘Bigot’ with ‘phone’. The verb even conjugated in daily speech, so it wasn’t unheard of to say, “I bigophoned my brother this morning.” Try working that into a conversation now!
Pantoufle: Much More Than Slippers
The humble pantoufle: sometimes cloth or soft leather indoor shoes with thick soles and high heels, sometimes simply meaning ‘elegant shoes’. Today, the word is forever tied to Cinderella and her famous glass (or perhaps ‘vair’, i.e., fur) slipper, even though the spelling was immortalized as ‘glass’ by Perrault. Not too long ago, ‘pantoufle’ could mean ‘chausson’, or slipper. The word offers even more: figuratively, to be ‘en pantoufle’ means being at home, among family and in intimacy. Bustling with meanings, it was also, in the nineteenth century, a bourgeois comfort. It even became a euphemism replacing something less polite. Its etymology? Mysterious, though maybe tied to the word ‘pantin’ or the dialect ‘pantet’, meaning ‘shirt tail’. There’s a chance that ‘pantoufle’ once meant peasant’s footwear. How’s that for a Cinderella twist?
Nostalgia Trip: Why These Words Matter
Time may steal objects and habits, but the words that named them still carry flavor and color. Language changes when the world does, but these five terms—cardigan, soulier, droguerie, bigophone, pantoufle—each tell stories about who we were and how we lived. Next time you slip on your slippers (pantoufles!) or reach for a ‘pull’ instead of a cardigan, spare a thought for these childhood words, waiting patiently to be heard again. Who knows? A revival might be just a conversation away. At the very least, you’ll have a bit of trivia ready for your next nostalgic dinner party.
John is a curious mind who loves to write about diverse topics. Passionate about sharing his thoughts and perspectives, he enjoys sparking conversations and encouraging discovery. For him, every subject is an invitation to discuss and learn.
