Champagne, "rain of stars upside down..." | Jean-Pruvost

Champagne, "upside-down shower of stars'' exclaims the Queen Mother of the United Kingdom. In another context: "I hoped there would be champagne," says Pierrette "with a little mischievous air," via Raymond Queneau. Or again: "Glory has, for our nation, the lightness of champagne," Chateaubriand solemnly asserts.

Since when and how did champagne and its procession of representations settle into our language? What is its history?

A small dictionary of "champagne houses" as well as a dictionary of quotes trace it back.

To down, to saber, to chill champagne? What words accompany it: glass, cup, flute, flask, bottle, magnum, nabuchodonosor...?

And on the production side: riddling, disgorging, dosage, corking, wiring, shaking, dressing, labeling, among others.

And the slang? From champ' to roteuse, including champelure... What is a champagné, a champagnette? The answer can be found in the index. Also, literature celebrating the benevolent Dom Pérignon. Voltaire, Diderot, Balzac, Haubert, G. Sand, J. Verne, Roger Nimier, B. Pivot, A. Nothomb have, among others, praised its bubbles and prestigious brands. One example not to follow: Max Lebaudy who, according to Cocteau, washed his carriages with champagne.

THE AUTHOR: Jean Pruvost, professor at the University of Cergy-Pontoise, is passionate about the history of dictionaries. International Prize for Linguistics (Logos) in 2000, Prize of the French Academy in 2007, language columnist for various radios, Editorial Director of Honoré Champion editions, he loves to share the exhilaration he feels in contact with his collection of dictionaries, more than ten thousand...