To avoid long lists, the French language is full of phrases such as "tout le saint-frusquin" ( " all the holy frusquin"), used to conclude a
inventory of various things, like the Latin phrase "etcetera." In the slang of the XVIIth century, the term frusquin designated clothes worn by the most modest. This term has given rise to the particular word "frusque" which described the clothes cheap. When talking about the whole frusquin of a person (usually poor), it thus referred to everything she had. The "saint" was added a century later, in reference to St. Crispin, the saint patron of tailors and shoemakers, who never went anywhere without having all his tools with him.
inventory of various things, like the Latin phrase "etcetera." In the slang of the XVIIth century, the term frusquin designated clothes worn by the most modest. This term has given rise to the particular word "frusque" which described the clothes cheap. When talking about the whole frusquin of a person (usually poor), it thus referred to everything she had. The "saint" was added a century later, in reference to St. Crispin, the saint patron of tailors and shoemakers, who never went anywhere without having all his tools with him.
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