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Fronde
(1 syl.). A political squabble during the ministry of Cardinal
Mazarin, in the minority of Louis XIV. (1648-1653). The malcontents
were called Frondeurs, from a witty illustration of a
councillor, who said that they were “like schoolboys who sling stones
about the streets. When no eye is upon them they are bold as bullies;
but the moment a `policeman' approaches, away they scamper to the
ditches for concealment”
(Montglat). The French for a sling is fronde, and for
slingers, frondeurs.
“It was already true that the French government was a despotism ...
and as speeches and lampoons were launched by persons who tried to hide
after they had shot their dart, some one compared them to children with
a sling (fronde), who let fly a stone and run away.” —C. M.
Yonge: History of France, chap. viii. p.136.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894 More on Fronde from Infoplease:
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