French fits
An old American slang term for delirium tremens — the severe shaking, hallucinations, and physical agitation that come with extreme alcohol withdrawal.
Definitions
An old American slang term for delirium tremens — the severe shaking, hallucinations, and physical agitation that come with extreme alcohol withdrawal. The 'French' prefix here follows a historical pattern of English speakers attributing undesirable conditions to other nationalities, which makes the term culturally loaded. It's dated and largely out of use today, but it surfaces in historical American fiction and medical history as a period-specific label for one of the most serious consequences of alcoholism.
The old barman said he'd seen men with the French fits so bad they couldn't hold a glass.
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(US, slang) Delirium tremens.
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- French pox59%
(archaic, slang) Syphilis.
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(archaic, slang) Syphilis.
- Frenchified57%
(slang) Having contracted a venereal disease.
- Frenchified57%
A word with two very different lives. In its tamer sense, Frenchified means made more French in style, manner, or character — perhaps overly refined, fashion-forward, or affected with French cultural airs. In older, more vulgar historical slang, it was a euphemism for having contracted a sexually transmitted infection, reflecting old British prejudices that blamed the French for the spread of syphilis. Today the word mostly survives in its cultural sense, used humorously to describe someone who has gone a bit too Parisian.