“Krenn Chacot”, “Pinasse”, “Thirty-six fathoms of mouth”, “Bébert la cuiller”… Pascal Parmentier collected 850 nicknames worn in Concarneau, most of them from the maritime world. From this painstaking work, he produced a colorful collection, entitled “Les nicknames Concarnois”. The game is to guess who is behind this nickname. Not always obvious, some dating from the end of the 19th century.
This is the first book written by Pascal Parmentier. The man, however, has a rich career. A printer for 30 years, he created the Palémon publishing house alongside the writer Jean Failler. Young retired, he decided to take advantage of his free time to take up his pen.
“She didn’t know people’s real names”
“My mother-in-law, who was from Passage, only mentioned nicknames,” says Pascal Parmentier. She didn't know people's real names. As for my uncle, nicknamed “Grand louzou”, he was a mechanic on a boat, and he had a filled school notebook, in which he had written down nicknames.
Hence this idea of embarking on a large collection of Concarne nicknames, gleaning right and left all those that reached his ears. Some very old, Pascal Parmentier dating back to the end of the 19th century. Others, more recent, concern people who have disappeared, but whose nickname has remained in our memories.
Signed Potato
The examples are often funny. “Krenn Chacot, which means “Scrape your pockets” in Breton, designated the last bistro that we frequented before tackling the climb to return to La Forêt-Fouesnant, explains Pascal Parmentier. There are well-known nicknames, such as “Gugu” or “Guite”, “Piece of lung”. Most are teasing, but never mean. The Concarnois, especially in the port, could have the habit of arguing with each other, before reconciling. But the nicknames stuck.”
The collector thus remembers old Concarnoises who friendly insulted each other, from one end of the street to the other. “What’s also funny is that at the funerals, some of the deceased were only known by their nickname. And since we couldn't engrave them as epitaphs, it was complicated,” laughs the man who, of course, also has a friendly nickname, “Potato”. Surname obliges…
“A good way to revive people”
In this very funny work, each nickname mentioned is followed by dotted lines. It is up to the reader to find the person to whom it was attributed. Who will guess the identities of “Casse-braguette” or “Thirty-six fathoms of mouth”? “I myself don’t know who is behind most of them,” he confides. But it’s a good way to revive people.”
The author does not close the door to a sequel. The book also refers to an email address, so that we can send him other nicknames that might have escaped him. Please note that he will be signing in Concarneau on Monday December 16 from 9:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Livre et la Plume, Friday December 20 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Crédit Agricole branch, 13, place Charles de Gaulle, Saturday 21 all day at the Leclerc Cultural Space, and Monday December 23 all day at the Cave du Moros.
Practical
“Concarnois nicknames”, by Pascal Parmentier, published by Palémon. Cover illustrated by designer Nono. 156 pages. €12. Contact: [email protected]
France
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