Short Stuff: Bourgeoisie | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. hello and welcome to the short stuff I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry sitting. in for Dave so it's short stuff you uh. basic. person you calling me. Bouie yeah no I'm not I wouldn't do that. I think it's kind of a mean thing to say. to somebody at least in America in. France they're like yes you're right. thank you in America it's a bit of a put. down that's right and that's what we're.

talking about today we are talking about. a word uh bis uh b o u r GE e o i yeah. uh not to be confused with bisi. correct uh well yeah they're very. closely related Bourgeois can mean um a. it can be an adjective and a noun right. if it's a noun you're talking about one. person who is Bourgeois so that that's. their behavior or it's the one person.

Bourgeois Z is all of the people who are. Bourgeois it's a noun only okay. everybody there's going to be a quiz at. the end of this. episode uh but if you if you talk to. Americans a lot of Americans probably. hear bis and they think oh Fancy Fancy. Fancy right uh and that is not the case. because bis refers to like you called me. Basics sort of a middle class basic. individual yes or group of individuals. right um but there's a um.

there's a long road between the original. version of Bourgeois that we'll talk. about and then the the American version. that it has now and right smack dab in. the middle uh are the commies uh. specifically Carl Marx yeah I don't. understand why uh Joseph Engles never. gets his due because he and Marx wrote. The Communist Manifesto but it's always. just Carl marks Carl marks you know must. drive angles crazy um but in 1848 they.

published The Communist Manifesto and in. that they adopted the word that had. formerly been middle class people it. wasn't really much of a put down it. wasn't it was just a useful word for a. while um he equated them with the people. who owned the capital that the labor was. produced on and decided that they were. exploiting the proletariat the working. class right that's right uh and he was. writing in German so of course he did. not say bis he said uh.

ber Gela beautiful and English you make. German Sound beautiful Chuck thank you. Dona uh in America they may translate. that as civil society or maybe a. Bourgeois Society but either way you. slice it what he's saying is the. Bourgeois are are the bad people they're. the one they're exploitive they're not. actually doing anything they just own. the stuff that the people who are. actually doing something are using to do. the thing that they're doing but really.

the Bourgeois are the ones who are. making the money off the working class. in their labor right so it was not a it. was not a at this at this time it was. not viewed as a very popular or um it. was it wasn't praise how about that no. one ever used it for Praise by this time. and um when it finally crossed uh the. Atlantic to America around the early. 20th century the wobblies the industrial. workers of the world uh who were I. believe I I we talked about them before.

and they were split between Communists. and anarchists and there was a big. struggle I think between the two but. regardless of whether you're a communist. or an anarchist at the beginning of the. 20th century you were not a fan of the. Bourgeois and um yeah so the wobbles did. not like the Bourgeois either and they. in fact came up with a new slang term. for him that's right the slang word was. bushwah uh bu u h w a uh and what's. weird I think that was in a a quote uh.

from a 1970 article what's weird though. is that that word bushwa um eventually. was sort of morphed into a slang for BS. like somebody's full of hot air or BS uh. someone you know was full of bushwa. right we have to thank our friends at. the grammarphobia blog for digging that. stuff up that's right um and then so it. also kind of morphed in a new way. kind of the way that um that we view it.

today but it but a little yeah I guess. it was pretty much the way we view it. today um the it first pops up in Black. Culture where it kind of morphed um. thanks to glattus KN and the Pips they. had a disco hit in 1980 called bougie. bougie and um can we hear a snippet no. we can't unfortunately but if you uh. want to hear any of the song bougie. bougie you can find it on YouTube or. just about anywhere where you can listen.

to it free and clear um but it's a great. song and I strongly recommend people go. listen to it yeah and that would be b o. RG i e comma b o u RG i e right and the. whole the whole point of the song is. it's about somebody who uh comes from. the working class or a poorer background. but started to make money and now. they're flaunting it they have like a. new car with a sunroof they have new. clothes and um it was a it was a. commentary on them but also kind of like. a snide one too like like these these.

people are um being Tacky in a way and. forgetting who they are where they come. from I guess yeah it it's kind of like. that that new money old money thing. which is just so you know yeah I say we. take a break Chuck yes I was about to. say that nice work. [Music]. [Applause]. [Music].

learning stuff with. josua and. Sh Stu you. should so if you want to go back to the. original bougie if you want to go back. to France um the original meaning is. from a French word b o u r g which I. guess would that be Burg yeah kind of. like Berg on the end of a town.

okay yeah uh and that's like a small. town or a small Market uh in the Middle. Ages um the people that live there sort. of adopted that name for themselves so. it kind of this this word is just. morphing and morphing all over the place. over the years uh they were one step up. from like a farming peasant so they were. sort of the middle class of the time. right um which is just the the way that. it was again I said it was like a useful. word it wasn't like a put down it wasn't. like a compliment it was like you are. Bourgeois that's that's that descrip. door yeah right very nice um and it.

wasn't until the 17th century. specifically I think in 1670 when molier. the French playwright came up with a. musical comedy uh he was hilarious. called um laoura gentle gentle or the. bis gentleman um and this is when it. takes Bourgeois and makes fun of it it's. um moer was punching down to the middle. class and essentially doing the exact. same thing that Gladis Knight and the.

Pips are doing with Bouie bougie um they. he was basically making fun of some. middle class social climber who was um. trying to make a name for himself in. French society that's right and that. would be the definition that is most. sort of thought of today in the 21st. century uh when someone says bougie uh. another you know modern musical example. is Atlanta's own from the ATL Migos you. ever listen to Migos oh yeah it's good.

stuff um they have a song called bad and. bougie in this case spelled b o u j and. it's sort of leans back on that uh what. the Pips were talking about um sort of a. new fancy lifestyle yes but two two. things were different one um the Migos. um made their money um cooking crack in. a crockpot which is a proprietary eponym. and usually there was a Uzi in the same. room too and two they were proud of. being bougie and all the money and tacky.

like ways that they threw it around like. that was the thing it wasn't it wasn't a. put down they were like yeah I'm bougie. you should have seen the money I had. before now look what I got yeah yeah. totally it's a great song. yeah uh okay so um that's where we are. today bougie it's it's essentially a put. down depending on whether you've claimed. it yourself if uh most of the time if. you're calling someone bougie in America. you're basically saying like you said at. the outset they're basic they're their. their lifestyle and their life is just.

kind of boring and pedestrian in middle. of the road and what's the point kind of. thing usually it's from somebody who um. uh well they're just being mean. essentially right yeah but in France. that's not the case yeah in modern. France uh it does not mean. pedestrian um it's a little more like uh. good well-mannered uh well. educated um there's there's like three. levels supposed of a Parisian bgea um.

the the nobility or people that are kind. of close to nobility or the rich or the. CRM de la CRM uh you have the bis de. Province uh doctors attorneys middle. class types uh and then the petite bis. who are you know shopkeepers artists um. you know kind of self-starting. self-employed people yeah and even. though there seems to be a bit of a. hierarchy to it they all are they're. behaving the same way um I think it just.

depends on how much money you have is. what what it's really kind of carved out. between um but the bouis in France is. exactly what Americans who don't know. what boua means think of they're correct. but they're just thinking specifically. of the French bgea yeah um and yeah I. guess that's about it for being bougie. and bis and bis Z and Karl Marx and. Joseph Engles and Migos and glattus. Knight and the whole lot of it Chuck.

well we'll follow up in 10 years and see. if the definitions changed again great. idea in the meantime short stuff is. [Music]. out stuff you should know is a. production of iHeart radio for more. podcasts iHeart Radio visit the iHeart. Radio app Apple podcasts or wherever you. listen to your favorite shows. [Music].