{"id":831,"date":"2022-07-18T21:22:51","date_gmt":"2022-07-18T19:22:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.learn-french-fun.com\/blog\/?p=831"},"modified":"2024-02-19T09:06:01","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T08:06:01","slug":"french-figure-of-speech-periphrase","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.learn-french-fun.com\/blog\/french-figure-of-speech-periphrase\/","title":{"rendered":"French figure of speech: Periphrase"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A periphrase is a figure of speech established by usage that allows you to refer to something or someone by using several words.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Greek root of the word explains its meaning: periphrasis comes from peri<\/em>, meaning \u00ab\u00a0around\u00a0\u00bb, and phraso<\/em>: \u00ab\u00a0to explain\u00a0\u00bb. And so, in practice, the periphrase revolves around the word it replaces!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, to avoid repeating the expression Eiffel Tower<\/strong> a thousand times in a text, I used a well-known periphrase in France: La Dame de Fer<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And instead of repeating the word France<\/strong>, I used another periphrase: l’Hexagone<\/strong>, a term that can even be declined into an adjective or a noun: l’ing\u00e9nierie hexagonale<\/strong> (hexagonal engineering) or un Hexagonal<\/strong> (a Frenchman).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eiffel Tower, Star of Paris<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Eiffel Tower is THE star of the capital: with its 324 meters high, about the same height as an 80-story building, it is still the highest structure in Paris and the most visited paying monument in France and… in the world!<\/strong> Every year, more than seven million tourists<\/strong> (90% of whom are foreigners) flock to the feet of the famous Dame de Fer<\/strong> (Iron Lady).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"La
La Dame de Fer<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

However, the Eiffel Tower had not yet emerged from the ground when it already aroused skepticism and disgust among its contemporaries: Le Temps<\/strong>, one of the most prestigious newspapers of the time, even published an open letter in 1887 <\/strong>signed by a number of artists and intellectuals who were fighting \u00ab\u00a0against the erection, in the heart of our capital, of the useless and monstrous Eiffel Tower, this wart on the face of Paris<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Gustave Eiffel<\/strong> stood firm: his Iron Lady, which was to be the entrance to the 1889 Universal Exhibition, celebrating the centenary of the French Revolution, was completed in 2 years, 2 months and 5 days. A true technical and architectural feat that was to testify to the world of the excellence and success of French engineering.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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And at the opening of the 1889 World’s Fair<\/strong>, the Eiffel Tower triumphed: 32 million visitors came from all over the world to see it<\/strong>. Among them, 1,968,287 had the courage to climb the 1,710 steps<\/strong> that led to the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially planned to last only 20 years, the Iron Lady was saved by the scientific experiments that Eiffel encouraged: <\/p>\n\n\n\n