La racaille

It's great to be able to read in multiple languages. Racaille - an accusation pointed by Sarkozy regarding people burning cars in the Parisian suburbs this past week - has been translated into English as: "thugs"; "scum"; "rabble". I don't know why writers or the wires decided against the more appropriate delinquents.

Racaille is almost a style here in France - sport on some ultra-baggy jeans, a sweatshirt and a baseball cap with some writing on it and you are likely to be called racaille - especially if you look tough and are not white. It doesn't mean that you are trouble.

In French, racaille is derived from canaille. According to l'Académie française, which controls the official French language, canaille originates from Italian (canaglia - pack of dogs, itself derived from cane - dog - in Latin), is pejorative and refers to a dishonest, detestable group of people. Canaille in English means the same thing - riffraff. In France, canaille has had several historical references:

• While in exile, Jean-Jacques Rousseau used canaille to describe a bunch of folks who were incited by the local clergyman to destroy his home in Môtiers.
• Canaille also referred to a bunch of surrealist and bohemian artists on the Left bank in Paris who were the antithesis of the bourgeoisie. Here, canaille is not violent it's about marginality.
• Leo Ferré wrote a popular song called Paris - Canaille, interprêtée par Catherine Sauvage en 1953.