ABSTRACT
Although this chapter has the umbrella title of ‘Metonymy and periphrasis’ the contents go far beyond the strict limits of these terms. Apart from metonymy proper and periphrasis, it includes a host of rather enigmatic names, expressions, euphemisms and nicknames, as well as many geographical references that are of great significance to the French but are far from being obvious to a non-native reader. These terms are so well known that they are never developed. Since the first edition appeared in 2011, one or two terms are no longer listed e.g. 36, Quai des Orfèvres, the mythical address of the French equivalent of the British CID, is no more. La Direction régionale de la police judiciaire de la préfecture de police de Paris is now located at 36, rue du Bastion in the 17e arrondissement after its move in 2017. In the wake of their electoral defeats, and consequent loss of funding, the French Socialist Party has been forced to sell off its historic headquarters in rue Solférino. NB normally, the thoroughfare – rue, avenue, allée, etc. – is written with a lower-case letter, but when such addresses are used metonymically they take a capital letter, thus Place Beauveau, Quai d’Orsay.
