ABELARD* – Unnecessary to have the faintest idea of his philosophy, or even to know the ti - tles of his works. Allude discreetly to the muti - lation operated upon him by Fulbert. The tomb of Heloise and Abelard: if someone proves to you that it is a fake, cry out: “You are robbing me of my illusions!” ABROAD – Enthusiasm for everything that comes from abroad: proof of a liberal mind. To deni - grate everything that is not French: proof of patriotism. ABSALOM – Had he worn a wig, Joab would not have been able to kill him. A facetious name to give a bald friend.* ABSINTHE – Extra-violent poison: one glass and you are dead. Journalists drink it while writing their articles. Has killed more soldiers than the Bedouins. dictionary of received ideas 4 ACADÉMIE FRANÇAISE – Denigrate it, but at - tempt to belong to it if possible. ACCIDENT – Always deplorable or unfortunate (as if one could ever find in misfortune a cause for rejoicing...) ACHILLES – Must be accompanied by “fleet-foot - ed”; this suggests that you have read Homer. ACTRESSES – The ruin of many a good son. Frighteningly lewd, they give themselves up to orgies, destroy fortunes and end up in the poor - house. Excuse me! Some of them make excel - lent mothers! ADMIRAL – Always courageous. Only ever swears by “blistering barnacles”! AGE (of revolutions) – Always ongoing, since every new government pledges to bring it to an end. AGENT – A lewd term.* AGRICULTURE – One of the udders of the State* (the State is masculine, but never mind). One should encourage it. Lacks manpower. dictionary of received ideas 5 AIR – Always beware of draughts. Invariably, the weather front is in contradiction to ambient temperature: if the latter is warm, the former is cold, and vice versa. ALABASTER – Serves to describe the loveliest parts of a woman’s body. ALBION – Always preceded by white, perfidious, no-nonsense. Napoleon came jolly close to con - quering it. Sing its praises: England the free. ALCIBIADES – Famous on account of his dog’s tail. A kind of debauchee. Visited Aspasia.* ALCOHOLISM – Cause of all modern illnesses (see absinthe and tobacco ). AMBITION – Always preceded by “mad” when it lacks nobility. AMBITIOUS – In the provinces, any man of repu - tation. “Me, I’m not ambitious!” indicates an egoist or an incompetent. AMERICA – Fine example of injustice: Chris - topher Columbus discovered it and it takes its name from Amerigo Vespucci. Without the discovery of America, we would not have syphilis or phylloxera*. Praise it nonetheless, dictionary of received ideas 6 especially if one has not been there. Inveigh against self-government. AMUSING – Must be attached to all remarks: “How amusing!” ANDROCLES – Refer to the lion of Androcles when discussing lion tamers. ANGEL – Sounds good in love and literature. ANGER – Stirs the blood; healthy to indulge in it from time to time. ANIMALS – Ah! If animals could speak! There are some that are more intelligent than men. ANTICHRIST – Voltaire, Renan...* ANTIQUITY (and everything connected to it) – Commonplace, tedious. ANTIQUITIES – Are always of modern manufacture. ANTS – Good example to cite to a wastrel.* In - spired savings banks. APRICOTS – We’ll have none again this year. ARCHIMEDES – Say after his name: “Eureka! Give me a lever and I will move the world.” dictionary of received ideas 7 There is also the Archimedes screw, but one is not required to know what it consists of. ARCHITECTS – All imbeciles. Always forget to include the household staircase. ARCHITECTURE – There are only four kinds of architecture. Naturally one does not count Egyptian, Cyclopean, Assyrian, Indian, Chi - nese, Gothic, Romanesque, etc. ARMY – The buttress of Society. ARMY IRREGULAR – More terrifying than the enemy. ARSENIC – Can be found everywhere (remember Madame Lafarge*). That said, there are na - tions that eat it. ART – Leads to the poorhouse. What’s the use of it, since we’re replacing it with machines that do better and work faster? ARTISTS – All triflers. Praise their financial dis - interest (archaic). Be surprised to find them dressed like everyone else (archaic). Earn insane fortunes but throw them out the window. Of - ten invited to dine in town. A female artist can dictionary of received ideas 8 be nothing but a strumpet. What they do can hardly be called work. ASP – Creature familiar from Cleopatra’s fig basket. ASSASSIN – Always cowardly, even when he has been intrepid and audacious. Less blameworthy than an arsonist. ASTRONOMY – Admirable science. Is useful only to the navy. While on the subject, laugh at astrology. ATHEIST – A nation of atheists would be unable to survive. AUTHOR – One must be “familiar with authors”; no need to know their names. B BACCALAUREATE – Thunder against. BACHELOR’S FLAT – Always in disorder, with women’s trinkets lying about here and there. Smell(s?) of cigarettes. There must be extraor - dinary things in there. dictionary of received ideas 9 BACHELORS – All egoists and rakes. They ought to be taxed. Are setting themselves up for a sad old age. BACK – A slap on the back can make one consumptive. BAGNOLET* – Place famous for its blind people. BALDNESS – Always premature, is caused by the excesses of youth or the thinking of lofty thoughts. BALLADS – The singer of ballads is attractive to women. BALLOONS – With balloons we will end up go - ing to the moon. We shan’t be able to navigate them any time soon. BANDITS – Always ferocious. BANKERS – All rich. Crooks, fat cats.* BANQUET – There reigns among the guests the frankest cordiality. One retains of it the happi - est memories, and one never parts without hav - ing given rendezvous for the following year. A wit must say: “At the banquet of life, unfortu - nate guest...”* etc. dictionary of received ideas 10 BARBER – Visit the barber’s mate, go to Figaro. The barber of Louis XI.* They used to bleed people in the olden days. BARQUE – Every little boat that carries a woman. “Come into my barque!” BASILICA – Pompous synonym for church. Is al - ways imposing. BASQUES – The fastest runners. BATHING COSTUME – Very exciting. BATTLE – Always bloody. There are always two victors, the winner and the loser. BAYADERE* – Word which transports the imagi - nation. All women from the Orient are baya - deres (see odalisques ). BEAR – Is generally called Martin. Cite the anec - dote about the cripple who, seeing that a watch had fallen into its lair, went into it and was devoured. BEARD – Sign of strength. Too much beard makes the hair fall out. Useful for protecting neckties. BEDCHAMBER – In an old castle: Henri IV al - ways spent a night there. dictionary of received ideas 11 BEER – One must not drink any, it gives one a cold. BEETHOVEN – Do not pronounce “beat oven”. Swoon with pleasure when one of his works is played. BEGGING – Ought to be forbidden and never is. BELLOWS – Never use them. BELLTOWER (of the village) – Makes the heart pound. BELLY – Say abdomen when ladies are present. BIBLE – The oldest book in the world. BILL – Always too high. BILLIARDS – Noble game. Indispensable in the country. BIRD – Wish to be one, and say with a sigh: “Wings! Wings!” Sign of a poetic soul. BLACK – Always preceded by “pitch”. BLACK WOMEN – Looser than white women (see brunettes and blondes ). BLEEDING – Have oneself bled in the spring. dictionary of received ideas 12 BLONDES – Looser than brunettes (see brunettes ). BLUE STOCKING – Term of contempt to indi - cate any woman who interests herself in intel - lectual matters. Quote Molière in one’s aid: “When her mind’s capabilities puff themselves up...” etc.* BOARDING SCHOOL – Say Boarding School, * when it is an institution for young girls. BODIES – If we knew how our bodies are made, we would not dare make a move. BOIL – See spots . BOOK – Whatever it is, always too long. BOOTS – In very hot weather, never fail to refer to the boots of a gendarme or the walking shoes of a postman (permitted only in the country, in the open air). Only with boots can one be well shod. BREAD – One has no idea what nasty things end up in bread. BREATH – To have a strong-smelling one gives an air of distinction. Avoid references to flies and insist that it comes from the stomach BRETONS – All decent folk, but obstinate. BRISTLES – If one cuts the hairs, they bleed. BRONZE – Metal from antiquity. BROOCH – Must always contain a lock of hair or a photograph. BRUNETTES – Looser than blondes (see blondes ). BUDDHISM – “False religion in India.” (Defini - tion from Bouillet’s dictionary, 1st edition).* BUDGET – Never balanced. BUFFON* – Wore cuffs in order to write. BULL – Father of the calf. The bullock is only its uncle. BURIAL – Say of the deceased: “And to think that I dined with him only eight days ago!” Termed obsequies when it involves a general, inhuma - tion when it involves a philosopher. BUSINESS MATTERS – Come before everything. A woman must avoiding discussing hers. What matters most in life. Everything is there. BUTCHERS – Are terrible in times of revolution. dictionary of received ideas 14 C CABINETMAKER* – Worker who specializes in mahogany. CACHET – Always followed by “entirely of its own”. CALIBRE – Disagree about the pronunciation of the word. CAMEL – Has two humps to the dromedary’s one. Or else the camel has one hump and the dromedary has two (one gets confused). CAMARILLA – Become indignant when this word is uttered. CANDOUR – Always fetching. One is full of it or one has none whatsoever. CANE – A walking stick must be made of it. CANNONADE – Changes the weather. CANNONBALL – The gust from a cannonball makes one blind. CAPITAL PUNISHMENT – Complain about women who go to watch it. dictionary of received ideas 15 CARRIAGES – Handier to rent than to own: thus one avoids the inconvenience of servants, as well as of horses that are always sick. CARTHUSIAN MONKS – Spend their time mak - ing liqueurs, digging their tomb and saying: “Brother, everyone must die.” CARTRIDGE POUCH – Holster for every mar - shal’s baton.* CATHOLICISM – Has had a most favourable in - fluence on the arts. CATS – Cats are traitors. Call them lounge tigers. Cut their tail to prevent staggers. CAVALRY – Nobler than the infantry. CAVES – The typical homes of robbers. Are al - ways full of snakes. CEDAR – The one in the Jardin des Plantes was brought back in a hat.* CELEBRITIES – Concern oneself with every de - tail of their private lives, in order to be able to denigrate them. CENSORSHIP – Has its uses, say what you will. dictionary of received ideas 16 CERUMEN – “Human wax”.* Do not to remove it as it prevents insects from entering one’s ears. CHAMBERMAIDS – Prettier than their mis - tresses. Know all their secrets and betray them. Always dishonoured by the scion of the household. CHAMPAGNE – Distinguishing feature of a formal dinner. Pretend to detest it, while say - ing that “it is not wine”. Provokes excitement among the lower classes. Russia consumes more of it than France. It has been the means of spreading French ideas throughout Europe. Un - der the Regency, people did nothing but drink it. However one does not drink, one “quaffs” it. CHATEAUBRIAND – Known chiefly for the steak dish that bears his name.* CHEAP GOODS – Attractive sign for a shop, in that it inspires confidence. CHEESE – Cite Brillat-Savarin’s* aphorism: “A dessert without cheese is a beautiful woman with only one eye Emigres: Earned their livelihood by giving guitar lessons and mixing salads.” ― Gustave Flaubert, The Dictionary of Accepted Ideas

The essence of military tactics.
All the great soldiers were good at it. 
Too serious to be a game, too futile to be a science 
 AMERICA: Fine example of injustice: Columbus discovered it and it is named after Amerigo Vespucci. If it weren't for the discovery of America, we shouldn't have syphilis and Phylloxera. Praise it all the same, especially if you've never been there. Expatiate on selfgovernment.
BLACK: Always followed by 'as ebony' or preceded by 'jet black.'
PIMPLES: On the face or anywhere else, a sign of good health and strong blood. Don't try to get rid of them.
NEGRESSES: Hotter than white women. (See BLONDES and BRUNETTES.)
HUGO, VICTOR: Really made a sad mistake when he went into politics.
 ARCHIMEDES: On hearing his name, shout “Eureka!”. Or else: ‘Give me a fulcrum and I will move the world.” There is also Archimedes’screw, but you are not expected to know that.

ARTIST: All charlatans. Praise their disintrestedness (old-fashioned). Express surprise that they dress like everyone else (old-fashioned). They earn huge sums and squander them. What artists do cannot be called work.

AUTHORS: One should ‘know a few’. Never mind their names

BUYING AND SELLING: The goal of life.

COFFE: Induces wit. Good only if it comes through Havre. After a big dinner party, it is taken standing up. Take is without sugar – very swank: gives the impression you’ve lived in the east.

EGG: Starting point for a philosophic lecture on the origin of life.

FAVOR: It is doing children a favor to slap them; animals, to beat them; servants, to fire them; criminals, to punish them.

GENTLEMEN: There aren't any left.

IMMORALITY: Distinctly enunciated, this word confers prestige on the user.

MACHIAVELLI: Though you have not read him, consider him a scoundrel.

NEIGHBORS: Try to have them do you favors without it costing you anything.

NOVELS: Corrupt the masses. Less immoral in serial than in volume form. Only historical novels should be allowed, because they teach history. Some novels are written on the point of a scalpel, others the point of a needle.

OPTIMIST: Synonym for imbecile.

PIDGIN: Always talk pidgin to make yourself understood by a foreigner, regardless of nationality. Use also for telegrams.

RELATIVES: Always a nuisance. Keep the poor ones out of sight.

REPUBLICANS: “The republicans are not all scoundrels, but all scoundrels are republicans!”

SELFISHNESS: Complain of other people's; overlook your own.

THINK (To): Painful. Things that compel us to think are generally neglected.
CHESTNUT – Female of the conker.*
CHIAROSCURO – One does not know what it is.
CHILBLAIN – Sign of health; comes from having
warmed oneself up after having been cold.
CHILDBIRTH – Word to avoid; replace with
“event”. “On what date are you expecting the
event?”
CHILDREN – Affect a lyric tenderness towards
them, when people are about.
CHIMNEY – Always smokes. Subject for discussion
in relation to heating.
CHIMNEY SWEEP – The swallow of winter
 CHOLERA – Melons cause cholera. One heals
oneself by taking a great deal of tea with rum.
CHRISTIANITY – Emancipated the slaves.
CHRISTMAS BOX* – Object with indignation.
CHRISTMAS EVE – White pudding makes a
Christmas Eve
.dictionary of received ideas
CIDER – Spoils the teeth.
CIGARS – Those sold lawfully are “all revolting”.
The only good ones are contraband.
CIRCLE – One must always belong to a circle.
CIVIL SERVANT – Inspires respect whatever the
function he fulfils.
CLARINET – Playing one causes blindness. Example:
all blind people play the clarinet.
CLASSICS (the) – One is meant to be familiar
with them.
CLEANSING – Used only in relation to the ceremonial
washing of feet.
CLOAK – Always the same colour as the wall for
gallant escapades.
CLOGS – A wealthy man of humble origins always
came to Paris in a pair of clogs.
CLOTH – All cloth comes from Elbeuf.*
CLOWN – Has been dislocated since childhood.
CLUB* – Infuriating topic for conservatives. Confusion
and debate concerning the pronunciation
of the word
COBBLER – Ne sutor ultra crepidam.*
COFFEE – Imparts wit. Tastes good only when it
comes from Le Havre. At a formal dinner, must
be taken standing. Drinking it without sugar,
very fashionable, makes it seem as if one has
lived in the Orient.
COGNAC – Very harmful. Excellent against quite
a few diseases. A good glass of cognac never did
anyone any harm. Taken on an empty stomach
it kills intestinal worms.
COITION, COPULATION – Words to avoid.
Say: “They had relations…”
COLD – Healthier than the heat.
COLLEGE, Lycée – Nobler than boarding school.
COLONIES (our) – Affect a mournful countenance
when they are discussed.
COMEDY – In verse, no longer suits our age. At
the same time, one must respect high comedy.
Castigat ridendo mores.*
COMETS – Laugh about people who feared them.
COMPASS – He sees straight who has one in his
eye.*
COMPETITION – The essence of commerce.
CONCERT – Well-to-do pastime.
CONCESSIONS – Never make any. They destroyed
Louis XVI.
CONCILIATION – Always preach it, even when
both sides are irreconcilably opposed.
CONCUPISCENCE – Clergyman’s word to express
the desires of the flesh.
CONFECTIONER – Everyone in Rouen is a
confectioner.*
CONFLAGRATION – Spectacle worth seeing
CONGRATULATIONS – Always sincere, hearty,
cordial, etc.
CONGREGATIONALIST – Knight of Onan.*
CONSERVATIVE – Fat-bellied politician. “Blinkered
conservative!” – “Indeed, sir, blinkers serve
as safeguards.”
CONSERVATOIRE – One simply must have a
subscription to the Conservatoire.
CONSPIRATOR – Conspirators are in the habit
of inscribing their names on lists
 Le bourgeois est l'ennemi du XIXème siècle après avoir été le héros du XVIIIème.
Flaubert et son génie ajoute sa pierre à la haine générale. Très effacé dans Madame Bovary, il utilise ici un style peut être moins célèbre mais beaucoup plus mordant.
Sorte de petite liste alphabétique des banalités bourgeoises de son temps, le Dictionnaire des idées reçues est tout autant un vrai bijou d'ironie qu'une vision critique et éclairée d'une chose que l'on connaît assez peu : les conversations bourgeoises du XIXème et non pas seulement ce que les romans de gare 
 Novels. Corrupt the masses. Are less immoral in serial than in volume form. Only historical novels should be allowed, because they teach history. Some novels are written with the point of a scalpel. Others revolve on the point of a needle."

"God. Voltaire himself admitted it: If God did not exist, it would be necessary to invent him."

"Erection. Said only of monuments."
CAFE
Donne de l'esprit. N'est bon que venant du Havre.
-Dans un grand dîner, doit se prendre debout.
-L'avaler sans sucre - très chic, et donne l'air d'avoir vécu en Orient.

ERECTION
Ne se dit qu'en parlant des monuments.

FARD
Abîme la peau.

IMBECILES
Ceux qui ne pensent pas comme vous.

INDOLENCE
Résultat des pays chauds.
 "Science. A little science takes your religion from you; a great deal bring
s you back to it."

ACHILLE
Aggiungere "dal piè veloce"; fa credere che si abbia letto Omero.
• BIANCHERIA
Non se ne fa mai vedere abbastanza.
• IMMORALITÀ'
Questa parola pronunciata bene valorizza chi la usa.
• PARTO
Parola da evitare: sostituire con "evento". "Per quando è atteso il lieto evento?"
"Workman. Always honest---unless he is rioting
  instinkt - Nadomješta inteligenciju.
2. Književnost - Zanimanje besposličara.
3. Optimist - Isto što i idiot.
4. Pjesnik - Otmjen sinonim za sanjara i šmokljana
 ( qu'on a effacé de "l'histoire littéraire") ou la littérature (finalement peu réaliste) nous en donne.
Enfin, si tout cela ne vous suffit pas à vous jeter dessus, sachez que cela se lit en 12 minutes, fait beaucoup rire et permet de briller aisément en société ( parce que citer une œuvre plutôt méconnue de Flaubert, cela n'a pas de prix

POLITICAL GAMAS Looser than blondes