French Expression of the Day: Poudre de perlimpinpin
This French expression might come up when discussing the latest ‘miracle cure’ that has gone viral on social media.
Why do I need to know poudre de perlimpinpin?
Because some solutions are little more than a mirage.
What does it mean?
Poudre de perlimpinpin – roughly pronounced poo-druh duh pearl-am-pan-pan (listen here) – is a term used when a charlatan or unreliable person proposes an unrealistic solution to a problem.
In English, we could loosely translate the expression to mean snake oil, magic beans, magic potion, fairy dust, a miracle cure or a magic wand – in short something completely useless that is sold to the credulous and naive.
One theory for the origins of this phrase is that in 17th century France, doctors used herbal medicine made from prêle (horsetail) and pimpin (Pandanus montanus). When used together, these plants formed the neologism of prelinpinpin, which later became perlimpinpin. Medicine has since advanced beyond this remedy.
It’s actually a pretty old-fashioned phrase, but it got a new lease of life during the 2017 presidential debates when Emmanuel Macron used it – the use of such an archaic phrase caused comment at the time and the clip of him saying it was even given a rap remix. Check it out here.
Since then it’s come back into the political debate from time to time, or when journalists are fact-checking a broad-reaching promise that might be too good to be true.
You might also hear it when health experts are warning about the side effects of a so-called ‘miracle cure’ that has little scientific backing.
Use it like this
Il faut sortir des solutions à la poudre de Perlimpinpin. – We need to get away from magic solutions.
Je ne peux pas dire si la crème est vraiment un miracle anti-âge ou simplement la poudre de Perlimpinpin. – I can’t tell if the cream is really an anti-ageing miracle or just snake oil.
Ce que vous proposez, comme d’habitude, c’est de la poudre de Perlimpinpin – What you are proposing, as usual, is mere snake oil [Emmanuel Macron to Marine Le Pen during the 2017 presidential election debate)
