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{{Short description|Any item of any genre which makes use of stereotypes of a particular group}}

{{More footnotes|date=March 2011}}

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Items such as [[ethnic joke]]s or [[blonde joke]]s are very common examples of blason populaire.

==Form and role of Blasonblason Populairepopulaire==

Blason Populairepopulaire represents an expression of traditional rivalry and a form of traditional insulting also seen in [[flyting]]. They may take the form of [[ethnic jokes]], [[ethnic stereotype]]s, [[football chant]]s, [[List of British regional nicknames|traditional nicknames]] and other forms.

Blason populaire performs a number of roles in society, such as social cohesion, by defining group behaviour or characteristics and contrasting those with another (alien, outsider or 'out group') group. This can be on a geographical, social, sex, occupation or pastime basis. For example, in one form blason populaire often seeks to undermine the masculinity of a rival group of males, or insult the appearance or chastity of the females of the rival group. Football chants often make reference to male players, officials or supporters being homosexual, effeminate or in some way not sufficiently masculine.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edtimes.in/the-most-offensive-chants-in-football/ | title=The most offensive chants in football | work=ED Times | author=Sriraj Singhania| date=25 January 2021 }}</ref>

The purpose of such insults is to create a sense of superiority and cohesion amongst the group doing the insulting. Such traditional insults are a way of defusing aggression in a similar way to flyting, as wit is valued over mere insult. The response of the offended group is expected to be to return the insult in a witty fashion. However, these exchanges can spill over into physical aggression if offence is taken by either group.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://centre-for-english-traditional-heritage.org/TraditionToday4/TT4_Luhrs_Blason_Populaire.pdf | title=Blason Populaire, Football Chants and the Construction of Masculinity | work=Centre for English Traditional Heritage | author=JOANNE LUHRS}}</ref>

Blason Populaire can also be used for social control purposes to emphasise the importance of local morality or norms by contrasting this with the behaviour of an 'out group'. The out group becomes merely an instrument for a morality tale in this usage. Or it can be used by a group with lower social status to lampoon a group with higher social status. An example of social control is to criticise someone seen as getting above their social station: "She's all fur coat and no knickers". This refers to a woman who puts on the appearances of being wealthy while remaining vulgar.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://wordhistories.net/2020/03/12/fur-coat-knickers/ |title=notes on ‘all fur coats and no knickers’ | work=Word Histories |author=Pascal Tréguer}}</ref>

==English blason populaire==

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"''Lincolnshire born, Lincolnshire bred | Strong in the arm but weak in the head.''"

This traditional English blason populaire is from Nottinghamshire, but the county that is accused of being strong bodied but weak minded (stupid) varies according to location. Yorkshire is often substituted for Lincolnshire.<ref>{{cite webencyclopedia | url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/yorkshire-born-and-yorkshire-bred-strong-arm-and-weak-head | title=Yorkshire born and Yorkshire bred, strong in the arm and weak in the head | workencyclopedia=Encyclopedia.com}}</ref> The traditional comeback to this rhyme is to explain that ''weak'' comes from the old English ''wic'' meaning clever.

In another example, [[Culture of Yorkshire|Yorkshire]] people may describe themselves as strong, hard-working, honest, thrifty and straightforward. In blason populaire these qualities are humorously turned into weaknesses. The Yorkshireman is portrayed as too blunt and mean in the well-known blason populaire "a Yorkshireman is a Scotsman with all the generosity squeezed out of him". This refers to another blason populaire (that Scots are mean) to intensify the insult. This stereotype can also be seen in the Yorkshireman's Motto:

{{Text and translation

''Ear all, see all, say nowt;

| <poem>

Eyt all, sup all, pay nowt;

''Ear all, see all, say nowt;''

And if ivver tha does owt fer nowt –

''Eyt all, sup all, pay nowt;''

Allus do it fer thissen.''<ref>{{cite book|first=Arnold |last=Kellett|title= Yorkshire Dialect Classics|page= 15}}</ref>

''And if ivver tha does owt fer nowt –''

''Allus do it fer thissen.''<ref>{{cite book|first=Arnold |last=Kellett|title= Yorkshire Dialect Classics|page= 15}}</ref>

</poem>

| <poem>

Hear all, see all, say nothing;

Eat all, drink all, pay nothing;

And if you ever do anything for nothing;

Always do it for yourself;

</poem>

}}

The UK also has a strong tradition of football-based blason populaire. Here the group bonding aim is present but there is also a more direct intent: to insult players to put them off their game. Officials and rival fans are also insulted through chants and songs. This is strongly correlated with flyting where the game of football is a ritualised form of battle. In football chants the opposition team or its players can be slated, or the football players of the home team lauded for being heroes or having their male characteristics exaggerated to emphasise their superiority. A chant about player Romelu Lukaku is an example of this:

<poem>

E's our Belgium scoring genius

He's got a 24-inch penis

Scoring all the goals

Bellend to his toes.

</poem>

Although this chant is not derogatory against the target per se (it was chanted by his supporters), it was later discouraged by Manchester United for expressing a stereotype of a black men.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edtimes.in/the-most-offensive-chants-in-football/ | title=The most offensive chants in football | work=ED Times | author=Sriraj Singhania| date=25 January 2021 }}</ref> Other examples have been used against players referencing their behaviour off field to put them off their game on field. Among these, John Terry inspired a number of offensive chants ("He's shagging the ref, He's shagging the ref") which referenced his infidelity, and Wayne Rooney because he allegedly slept with a much older woman ("Fat granny shagger, you're just a fat granny shagger").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/10-funniest-yet-offensive-chants-english-football/7 |title=10 Funniest Yet Offensive Chants in English Football | work=Sportskeeda | author=Faizan Qadiri|date=25 September 2016 }}</ref>

"''e's our Belgium scoring genius | He's got a 24-inch penis | Scoring all the goals | Bellend to his toes.''"

== ''Blason Populaires'' in Irish Proverbialproverbial Materialmaterial ==

Although this chant is not derogatory against the target per se (it was chanted by his supporters), it was later discouraged by Manchester United for expressing a stereotype of a black men.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://edtimes.in/the-most-offensive-chants-in-football/ | title=The most offensive chants in football | work=ED Times | author=Sriraj Singhania}}</ref> Other examples have been used against players referencing their behaviour off field to put them off their game on field. Among these, John Terry inspired a number of offensive chants ("He's shagging the ref, He's shagging the ref") which referenced his infidelity, and Wayne Rooney because he allegedly slept with a much older woman ("Fat granny shagger, you're just a fat granny shagger").<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sportskeeda.com/football/10-funniest-yet-offensive-chants-english-football/7 |title=10 Funniest Yet Offensive Chants in English Football | work=Sportskeeda | author=

Faizan Qadiri}}</ref>

== ''Blason Populaires'' in Irish Proverbial Material ==

The focus of blason populaires in Irish-language proverbial material is primarily regional, as opposed to national or ethnic, and, furthermore, such proverbs are usually jocular, descriptive, and benign, rarely exhibiting ethnic or racial slurs.<ref>Marcas Mac Coinnigh. An Blason Populaire: Slurs and Stereotypes in Irish Proverbial Material’. Folklore 125 (2013): 1</ref>

Exceptions to the non-nationalistic tendency are often blasons populaires of the multi-group international comparison, manifested in epigrammatic form in European languages, with the most salient and representative stereotypical trait being attributed to the nations involved (what Billig (1995) refers to as 'banal nationalism'). Enumerative structures, usually tri- or quadripartite formulas, are the favoured apparatus. The syntactic and semantic juxtaposition of negative traits for comparative purposes is then counter-balanced by the positive representation of one nation, usually in final position, most commonly the in-group that invokes the comparison. Below is a nineteenth-century German example (Reinsberg-Düringsfeld 1863, 5) in which there is no apparent in-group.

::{{Text and translation|''Die Italiener fluchen, Die Franzosen schreien, Die Engländer essen, Die Spanier trotzen, Und die Deutschen betrinken sich.'' |The Italians curse, the French scream, the English eat, the Spanish defy, and the Germans get drunk.}}

:::(The Italians curse, the French scream, the English eat, the Spanish defy, and the Germans get drunk.)

==''Blasons populaires'' in Wallonia and Luxembourg ==

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| The breakers of Quinquet lamps

|}

<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://belgique-sud-surnoms-des-habitants.skynetblogs.be/ |title=ArchivedLes copysurnoms des habitants en Belgique du Sud (Lès spots) |access-date=2011-03-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150214184818/http://belgique-sud-surnoms-des-habitants.skynetblogs.be/ |archive-date=2015-02-14 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{|

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==See also==

*[[Jewish humor#Chełm|Wise MenTown of Chełmfools]]

*[[WiseEthnic Men of Gothamjokes]]

*[[An Englishman, an Irishman and a Scotsman]]

*[[Florida man]]

==References==

{{Reflist}}

<references />

==Further reading==

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* Marcas Mac Coinnigh, "The Blason Populaire: Slurs and Stereotypes in Irish Proverbial Material", ''Folklore'' (2013)

* Vincent Stuckey Lean, ''[https://archive.org/details/leanscollectanea01lean Collectanea]'', (1902)

* ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=lsBQxdvaIRUC&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false Blason populaire de la France]'', par Henri Gaidoz et Paul Sébillot, Ayer Publishing, 1884, {{ISBN|0-405-10093-0}}, {{ISBN|978-0-405-10093-2}} .

== External links ==

* http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/articles/pages/543/Blason-Populaire.html{{Dead link|date=July 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blason Populaire}}

[[Category:Folklore]]

[[Category:Stereotypes]]

[[Category:Archetypal fools]]