An Analysis of the Vocabulary Relating to Wine Drinking, Based on Dictionnaire comique by Ph.-J. Le Roux (1786) and Dictionnaire de l’Académie Française (1798)

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to present and analyse the terms found in two dictionaries published in the twilight of the 18th century, namely Dictionnaire comique by Philibert-Joseph Le Roux (1786) and Dictionnaire de l’Académie Française (1798), both of which relate to the way that wine is drunk by the French. The plenitude of terms describing the drinking culture, the words for good and bad wine, the effects following wine consumption, the stages of alcohol intoxication, the names for persons consuming alcohol, and the rituals and drinking-related activities is accompanied by the socio-economic panorama. The two dictionaries have different lexicographical assumptions, i.e. while the Le Roux dictionary contains language material which often contradicts the principles of bel usage, the Academy’s dictionary promotes the purity and correctness of the French language. Nonetheless, in most cases they give the same terms and expressions with regard to drinking.