enfant terrible
The expression enfant terrible [ ɑ̃ˈfɑ̃ː tɛˈʀiːbl̩ ] comes from French and literally means “terrible child”, meaning “family or citizen fright”.
In common parlance, it is used soothingly and ironically for outsiders or eccentrics who attract attention through inappropriate or unrestrained actions and embarrass others.
When exactly the term was used in this sense seems to be an open question. Georg Büchmann said that it was "probably spread by the fact that the cartoonist Paul Gavarni [...] gave one of his comic series of pictures the title Les enfants terribles ". The expression was further spread in the 20th century through the novel Les Enfants terribles (Children of the Night) by the French surrealist Jean Cocteau from 1929.
Uses of terms
The term enfant terrible is almost always used in connection with one or more people and is often used in the fields of art, culture, fashion and sport, often as a stand-alone term. As a rule, the term then characterizes a certain, often provocative behavior of the person named.
swell
- ↑ Georg Büchmann: Winged words: the treasure trove of quotations of the German people . 33rd ed., Edit. by: Winfried Hofmann. Ullstein-Verlag, Frankfurt am Main u. a. 1981, ISBN 3-550-07686-X , p. 214.