Post #2002320
2026-04-17 01:06 UTC
And _now_ I learn the 'silhouette' is actually a sneering reference to the short-serving French minister of finance Étienne de Silhouette (which is itself the Frenchified version of a Basque name probably 'Zuloeta' or 'Zulueta' possibly meaning 'abundance of holes' or possibly 'abundance of caves').
https://www.etymonline.com/word/silhouette
Replies (1)
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@karbin@meow.social 2026-04-17 10:10
@Austin_Dern that's a very interesting origin, passing from Basque to French to everywhere in the world. It reminds me of the origin of "assassin" which has a similar story. https://www.etymonline.com/word/assassin If you want to check it out