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Cherchez La Femme
''Cherchez la femme'' () is a French phrase which literally means 'look for the woman'. It is a cliche in detective fiction, used to suggest that a mystery can be resolved by identifying a femme fatale or female love interest. Origin of the phrase The expression comes from the novel ''The Mohicans of Paris'' ''( Les Mohicans de Paris)'' published 1854–1859 by Alexandre Dumas (père). The phrase is repeated several times in the novel; the first use reads: ''Cherchez la femme, pardieu! cherchez la femme!'' Look for the woman, by God! Look for the woman! Dumas also used the phrase in his 1864 theatrical adaptation: ''Il y a une femme dans toutes les affaires; aussitôt qu'on me fait un rapport, je dis: « Cherchez la femme ! »'' There is a woman in every case; as soon as someone brings me a report, I say, 'Look for the woman!' Significance The phrase embodies a cliché of detective pulp fiction: no matter what the problem, a woman is often the root cause. The phrase ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
French Language
French ( or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European family. It descended from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire, as did all Romance languages. French evolved from Gallo-Romance, the Latin spoken in Gaul, and more specifically in Northern Gaul. Its closest relatives are the other langues d'oïl—languages historically spoken in northern France and in southern Belgium, which French ( Francien) largely supplanted. French was also influenced by native Celtic languages of Northern Roman Gaul like Gallia Belgica and by the ( Germanic) Frankish language of the post-Roman Frankish invaders. Today, owing to France's past overseas expansion, there are numerous French-based creole languages, most notably Haitian Creole. A French-speaking person or nation may be referred to as Francophone in both English and French. French is an official language in 29 countries across multiple continents, most of which are members of the ''Organisation internationale de la Francophonie'' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
