accord to the word - watchman at Merriam - Webster , the give-and-take " burgher " ( pronounced boor·jwa ) probablydoesn’t mean what you think it means . That ’s because Americans incline to retrieve that everythingFrenchis fancy and high - class . But bourgeois is not connected to upper - class position . Instead , it refers to somebody or something that ’s decidedly basic , like a tiresome middle - class sprightliness .
In other word , if someone says you have bourgeois taste , do n’t take it as a compliment . Learn more about how this full term and the word " bougie " ( put one over for " burgher " ) come to be .
French Origins of ‘Bougie’
The original meaning of businessperson is from the Gallic wordbourg , which means asmall market townspeople or walled resolution . Back in the Middle Ages , the burgher were the people who lived in these land towns .
Since townspeople folks were one economic pace up from grow barbarian , the bourgeois were the first to have in-between - class status .
By the 17th century , businessperson had take in on a new , more vital connotation . The French dramatist Moliere , for example , wrote a melodious comedy in 1670 called " Le Bourgeois Gentilhomme " or " The Bourgeois Gentleman " that poke fun at a naive , middle - category societal crampoon who engage private instructor and mode consultants to fit into high-pitched - course of study society .
Marxist Villains
By the 19th 100 , burgher had migrated from snarky societal commentary to the centre of a radical political movement .
In 1848,Karl Marxpublished " The Communist Manifesto , " which lay out the German philosopher ’s rotatory economic worldview . Marx believed that capitalist , industrial social club were engaged in a course of instruction war . The heroes were the proletariat ( the working class ) , while the villains were the bourgeoisie , the gamy - class capitalists who " possess the means of production . "
Since Marx was save in German , he used the phrase " bürgerliche Gesellschaft , " which wasalternately translatedto English as " civil beau monde " or " bourgeois society . "
In either pillow slip , the accusation was the same : that the middle class pull off the labour by get productive off their parturiency . The bourgeoisie were the regretful guy cable and had to be toppled .
That’s a Bunch of ‘Bushwa’!
When Marxist ideas cross the Atlantic in the former 20th century , the Industrial Workers of the World ( IWW ) , better known as the " Wobblies , " pick up the plight of the proletariat .
Americans ca n’t reject mangling a foreign word . As journalists Patricia O’Conner and Stewart Kellerman report on their blog Grammarphobia , the Wobblies coined " bushwa " as slang for " businessperson . “O’Conner and Kellerman quote a 1970 article account the Wobbly worldview back in the former 1900s :
But what ’s even more fun , O’Conner and Kellerman report , is that the derisive tonus of " bushwa " rapidly slip into the vulgar lexicon as a PG adaptation of " bulls—- . " They quote the " Random House Dictionary of American Slang , " which found the first such usage in a 1906 military issue of the National Police Gazette :
Is It Bad to Be ‘Bougie’?
Black popular culture has been remixing its own adaptation of bourgeois , at least since Gladys Knight & The Pips tape their1980 disco collision , " Bourgie , Bourgie”(pronounced " razzing - jee , boojee " ) . The song describe a someone " from across the tracks " who flaunts their Modern money with fancy clothes and a shiny machine with a sunshine-roof .
Whether you spell " bougie " as " bourgie " or " boujee , " the 21st - one C slang word has flip back to a definition Moliere would agnize . It ’s used to playfully throw shade on upward mobile people with upper - middle - family taste perception .
But sometimes the aim behind theslang wordis less playful and more taunting , charge the bailiwick of being pretentious .
There ’s also " boujee , " as popularized in Migos ' hit hip - record hop song"Bad and Bouje , " which proudly ostentate newly assume wealth and a fancy life style — like to what the Pips were teasing in the 1980s . The telecasting show well - heeled noblewoman wearing couturier clothes , salute champagne and eating out of Chanel fast - food for thought containers .
Meanwhile, Back in France
In modern France , being bourgeois does n’t signify you have walker tastes . In fact , it ’s the reverse .
consort to Camille Chevalier - Karfis , a native Parisian who teaches classes on Gallic linguistic process and culture , being bourgeois is all about effortless style , salutary fashion , good instruction and maybe a country house to escape the metropolis on the weekends .
The meretricious nemesis of the Gallic bourgeois is the " nouveau riche , " who smuttily flaunt their riches and status through a plushy lifestyle .
Chevalier - Karfis note there are three kinds of businessperson :
All three categories , she assures us , follow the same codes of the bourgeois .
