/o djablə vovɛʁ/ lit. ‘at the devil’s Vauvert’
French idiom, familiar. A very remote place, far from towns and people.
Draft Not yet checked by a native French speaker.
How do people use Au diable vauvert
?
Familiar with a slightly old-fashioned, storybook flavor, and still common. It usually follows a verb of living or going: “il habite au diable vauvert”, “aller au diable vauvert”. Spelling wobbles between “vauvert” and “Vauvert” with a capital, and both are accepted.
Also said au diable Vauvert, au diable vert
Au diable vauvert
in real sentences
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Il habite au diable vauvert.
He lives very far away.
Tatoeba, sentence by Blabla, translation by shekitten, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Elle habite au diable Vauvert.
She is living in the middle of nowhere.
Tatoeba, sentence by Rovo, translation by Kuyo, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Au diable vauvert
come from?
Nobody is sure which Vauvert is meant. French Wiktionary lists three theories: a château at Gentilly with a bad reputation, a Carthusian monastery on the Rue d’Enfer in Paris, or a shrine to Our Lady of the Green Valley at Vauvert in the Gard, where pilgrims on the way to Santiago saw devil plays. Georges Brassens used it in his 1960 song “Les Funérailles d’antan”, but no dated first use is given.
Mistakes learners make with Au diable vauvert
Cutting it short. “Au diable” on its own is a curse (“va au diable!” means go to hell), so leave out vauvert and you’re swearing at someone instead of describing a long trip.
Other French idioms like Au diable vauvert
Spot a mistake in Au diable vauvert
?
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