![]() The Oxford English Dictionary notes that this term, perhaps unsurprisingly, was initially a derogatory one that implied that the members of this group exhibited erratic behavior, as if intoxicated by hashish-or because they actually were. It originally referred to a member of a Shia Muslim sect at the time of the Crusades who was sent out on a suicidal mission to murder prominent enemies. ![]() The word assassin was borrowed into English directly from French, which based its word on a Latin term that traced back to the Arabic word ḥashshāsh, meaning “worthless person,” or, literally, “hashish user,” since the ultimate root of this word was hashīsh. A synonym of mole in this sense is sleeper. Since Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy derives from an English nursery rhyme, the French title for the novel and TV and film adaptations is more straightforward as La Taupe, the French word for mole (both the little furry animal and the human spy). The plot of Tinker, Tailor involved the discovery of such a mole in the British secret service, one with deep factual resonance, since it paralleled the discovery of the British agent-turned-Soviet-spy Kim Philby (and is connected to the story of another Soviet mole in England whose discovery was depicted in The Crown). A mole is a deep penetration agent so called because he burrows deep into the fabric of Western imperialism. Le Carré explains this use of the word in the text of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy: Its use with the meaning “a spy (such as a double agent) who establishes a cover long before beginning espionage” actually dates back to the 1920s, but, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, “it is generally thought that the world of espionage adopted it from le Carré, rather than vice versa.” John le Carré wasn’t the first person to use the term mole to refer to a spy, but it’s probable that he did more to make it commonly known than anyone else. Spies work behind the scenes, but the fact that thriller is among the most closely associated terms with espionage is perhaps proof that John le Carré made their secret stories take center stage. The words that occur most frequently with espionage illustrate all of these elements: It also conveys something organized and systematic with its meaning “the practice of spying.” One could spy on a neighbor or act as a spy, but espionage brings a connotation of a network, an allegiance, an ideology, a motive. Appropriately enough, it seems to be a word that is working in foreign territory.Įspionage shares roots with spy, but retains its superficial Frenchness because it was borrowed centuries later, in the late 1700s earlier borrowings into English are often changed and anglicized more than relatively recent ones. ![]() It is pronounced in the French manner, rhyming with garage (for American English speakers), with that soft g sound that is distinctively French. It seems fitting that the word spy is an English-looking monosyllable borrowed from French that ultimately comes from Germanic roots.Įspionage wears an indisputably French origin on its sleeve. The French word was attested in the 11th century, and had come to Middle English by the 13th century.Ī word’s etymology is its biography sometimes it reveals a disguise. Spy, it turns out, comes from the French verb espier (“to spy”), itself from the Franconian spehôn, meaning “to observe attentively.” Franconian, known in French as francique, was a German dialect from a region that today includes Bavaria, known as Franconia. This whole story of the writer’s name has an uncanny resonance with the word spy itself, which, while it has a chunky Anglo-Saxon monosyllabic quality, actually comes to English from French.īut, perhaps unsurprisingly, hiding behind the French word’s identity is a slightly unusual Germanic background-unusual for a language that directly descended from Latin, the language of origin for most French words. He was advised by his publisher to choose a name with “two Anglo-Saxon monosyllables, like Chunk-Smith” as a false name, but chose instead the oddly French “le Carré.” Carré means “square” or “squared” in French, and is indeed sometimes a family name, but used with le seems a bit strange, coming across as “John the Square.” “John le Carré” was the pseudonym of writer David Cornwell, who was working as a member of Her Majesty’s secret service when his first novels were published, requiring that he disguise his identity.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |