French

Casse-poitrine

Its literal translation is “chest breaker”, and although initially this popular expression was used to designate a type of spiced or poor quality moonshine, it began to be used against the effeminate or people of homosexual behavior without knowing very well why. And so, in 1857, we found the first written reference in a document of a forensic doctor who explained that it was very appropriate to call these people Casse-poitrine, since this sexual behavior, and the bad quality liquor, had the same pernicious effects on people’s health. Finally, in the 40s, Casse-poitrine appeared in a slang dictionary published in the magazine “Le crapouillot” as synonymous with pédé (faggot, sissy, etc.).