Spanish Bellies, French Travel Guides, German Beer, and Latin Poetry
Behind the word, “michelín”
Spanish Bellies
A podcaster asked a neurologist about napping and one’s health: to siesta, or not to siesta (a conversation unapologetically Spanish — missing only flamenco and paella). The neurologist then mentioned this word that sounded, well, not-Spanish — michelín.
I looked further and found the word mentioned in the text below. It is from an internet health article. You know the type: “5 ways to get rid of that stubborn belly fat.” In the introduction, the reader is reminded to ignore the bad advice out there about localizing fat burn (for example, that you don’t burn fat from your arms by doing arm exercises).
(As an aside, check out the last line — in Spanish, you don’t get a 6-pack… you get a chocolate bar. I’d argue a chocolate bar looks more like toned abs than 6 beers, though neither conjures up the picture of good health!)
Upon glancing at the text, you might be thinking, “Michelin, I know that word. What’s that have to do with exercises? Well, it happens that the tire company, Michelin, is a word in Spanish for… belly fat.
I can see how that makes sense. This guy, after all, is not exactly the image of perfect health.
German Beer
Michelin started as a French tire company, being the last name of the two founding French brothers. The “Michelin Man”, as he is known in the United States, is one of the oldest and most widely recognized commercial mascots. Except that’s not his given name.
Édouard and André Michelin were at a trade show in the late 1800s when they happened upon a sketch of an advertisement for a brewery in Munich. The artist was shopping his work around (since the German brewery didn’t end up going with advertisement).
The artist, Marius “O’Galop” Rossillon, designed this purportedly “aristocratic” fellow at a dinner party, saying, “a votre sante” — raising a toast. (A toast to what? Your nightmares, apparently).
“Nunc est bibendum,” written in Latin: Now, it’s time to drink. The rest, in French, explains, “that is to say, the tire Michelin drinks down your obstacles.” The repurposed tire poster now features nails and broken glass in his goblet.
Yes… that is how they shoehorned a bad prototype for a brewery ad into a bad ad for safe tires. One of the Michelin brothers had the (much better) idea of turning this mascot into the guy who is made out of a stack of actual tires, whom we all know and love.
Latin Poetry
From this first poster, this famous character’s name was born: “Bibendum”. Students of Latin will be sure to seize on this word.
“Bibendum! Why, that’s the future passive participle of the verb bibere! And, when combined with “est”, it is known as the gerundive form, naturally.”
I’d love to make the rest of this article about future passive participles and why all languages should have them, but the short of it is:
- Future — The action will take place at a later time than now,
- Passive — Not active voice, “They drink much wine” but passive voice, “Much wine will be drunk (by them)”,
- Particple — Not the whole verb phrase “Something will be done” but just the verby part, something “(is) to be done.”
“Nunc est Bibendum,” Now, it is time for drinking — but what is this famous phrase? It is the first line of Horace’s Odes, Book 1, Poem 37. (Horace, of “carpe diem” fame).
Here in poem 37, Horace rejoices in the death of Cleopatra and Caesar’s conquest of Egypt. The line, “nunc est bibendum,” is taken as a call to celebration.
But what does any of this have to do with tires? Or travel guides? Or… Michelin 3-star restaurants?
At the onset of the invention of the automobile, the Michelin brothers needed to think of a way to sell more tires. What better way to stimulate demand for tires than to get people to wear out their old ones?
In 1900, they wrote travel guides that sent domestic tourists up and down France, and directed them to their starred restaurants (later, up to three stars). As late as the early 2000s, the Michelin rating scale finally made its way to the US.
In Sum
“Michelin” is synonymous with the tire company to some; to others, fine dining. It is, in fact, the same company that sells car equipment who also encourages luxurious dining experiences. Food, tires, beer, advertising — all an integral part of this unique story.
And so we come full circle: The fold of the belly that the Spanish want to get rid of before beach season is playfully called one’s “michelín”. Somehow related to both food and tire, this term has an official entry in the Spanish government language (gatekeeping) organization, the RAE, where it is also referred to as a “fold” as in “hemline”. Less frequent: “floaties”, “roll”, “fat”, and “tuck,” and in the Americas, it can be your “tire” or “life preserver.”
So, bellies are fun! Thanks for traveling with me on this linguistic journey about a modern phrase and some unlikely origins related to one of the most iconic brands in history — Michelin.
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