Concepts Archive

  • Poilu or Grognard?

    Poilu or Grognard?

    Posted on January 24, 2009 | No Comments
    Poilu (pronounced /pwaly/ in French) is a warmly informal term for a French World War I infantryman, meaning, literally, hairy one. The term came into popular usage in France during the era of Napoleon Bonaparte and his massive citizen armies, though the term grognard (grumbler)...

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  • The most interesting clock

    The most interesting clock

    Posted on September 23, 2008 | No Comments
    37|300 I found this marvellous device a few years back and have been fascinated by it ever since. There is something about it’s design that invokes the same kind of reaction in me that the Victorians would have had about the new technology of their...

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