Sometimes in the tales of Paris the unusual word “clochard” (clochard) slips. However, from the name it is difficult to understand what it means. This article gives an interpretation of the word and considers the possible reasons for its origin.
Meaning of the word
Clocheard is a tramp, a poor man with no fixed abode in France, mainly in Paris. He is lonely in connection with a tendency to desocialization. He is a victim of circumstances and the inability to find work, often seeking solace in alcohol. Currently, the word is considered non-modern, politically incorrect and is perceived as an insult.
Kloshary represent a special layer of the urban population, spending the night on benches, in parks, under bridges and just where it is necessary. How many years Paris, so many clochears exist in it, personifying the backstage of the brilliant fashion capital. They repeatedly appeared on the pages of French literary classics. In particular, Victor Hugo’s famous novels Les Miserables and Notre Dame de Paris were written about such people. In them, Kloshar is an unfairly deprived character, nourishing hope for a better life, but never receiving it and therefore doomed to suffering.
Origin of the word
There are two hypotheses explaining the origin of the French word clocheard. According to one of them, the verb clocher, which appeared in French approximately at the beginning of the 12th century, comes from the Latin cloppicare, meaning "limp, walk, dragging the paw." The word clocard and the verb clocharder only come to written French in the 19th century.
In the 20th century, the expression aller à cloche-pied appears, which in translation into Russian sounds like “jumping on one leg”, and in the figurative sense means “being a poor, inferior, excluded person from life”.
The second hypothesis looks less plausible, since it connects the term clochard with the word cloche (bell), borrowed from the Latin clocca. A possible explanation of the theory dates back to the time when beggars were offered to ring bells for money.
Interesting facts about closharas
A few years ago, the story of the clochard Pierre Leber from the city of Por Vandre, who arranged a bed from a concert piano found at a city dump, scattered across the Internet. With the help of his friends, he transferred the instrument to his home, dismantled it, covered the vacant space with old blankets and received the so-called king bed, which became the best find in his life and an object of immense pride.