L'enfant terrible

The term enfant terrible [ ɑfɑ ː ː tɛʀi BL] comes from the French and literally means " terrible child ", mutatis mutandis so " family or enfant terrible ".

In common parlance, it is soothingly - ironically used for outsiders or eccentrics that stand by unadjusted or licentious acts and other mitblamieren.

Exactly how the term is used in this sense, seems open. Büchmann said he had been " well spread by the fact that the cartoonist Paul Gavarni [ ... ] one of his comic image sequences gave Les enfants terribles the title ."

Uses of the term

The term enfant terrible is almost always with them often used in conjunction with one or more persons as well as in the field of art, culture, fashion and sport, often as a stand alone name. In general, the term then characterized a specific, often provocative behavior of the person so designated.

Swell

• French phrase