# Endnotes explained — Germinie Lacerteux

> Chapter companion for Germinie Lacerteux by Edmond de Goncourt.

## What happens

This chapter provides explanatory notes on French slang and colloquial expressions used in the novel, clarifying terms related to drinking, speech errors, and other vernacular phrases.

## Key lines

> Canon is the French word for cannon; it is also used in vulgar parlance to mean a glass of wine drunk at the bar.

The word 'canon' in French means cannon, but in common slang it refers to a glass of wine consumed at a bar.

_Clarifies a slang term for a drink._

> Battre les murailles —to beat the walls—has a slang meaning: to be so drunk that you can’t see, or can’t lie down without holding on.

The phrase 'battre les murailles' literally means to beat the walls, but slang-wise it describes being too drunk to see or stand without support.

_Explains a metaphor for extreme drunkenness._

> Cuir is an expression used to denote the error in speaking, which consists—in French—in pronouncing a t for an s, and vice versa at the end of words which are joined in pronunciation to the next word: e.g., il étai-z-à la campagne for il était à la campagne.

Cuir refers to a speech error in French where a 't' is pronounced instead of an 's' or vice versa when words are linked in speech, such as saying 'il étai-z-à la campagne' instead of 'il était à la campagne'.

_Describes a common linguistic mistake._

> In the slang vocabulary, to console one’s coffee means to add brandy to it.

In slang, 'to console one's coffee' means to add brandy to the coffee.

_Defines a colloquial expression for adding alcohol to coffee._

> A négresse is a bottle of red wine, and, as applied to that article, morte (dead) means empty.

The term 'négresse' refers to a bottle of red wine, and when that bottle is described as 'morte' (dead), it means empty.

_Explains slang for a wine bottle and its state of being empty._

## Links

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