Picnic (pique-nique)

Włoskipolak 72

Włoskipolak 72

Senior Member
Italy , Lago di Garda
Polish
Pique-nique, from French (de piquer, picorer, et ancien français nique, chose sans valeur).
Repas pris en plein air au cours d'une promenade.


''According to some dictionaries, the French word pique-nique is based on the verb piquer, which means 'pick', 'peck', or 'nab', and the rhyming addition nique, which means 'thing of little importance', 'bagatelle', 'trifle'. It first appears in 1649 in an anonymous broadside of burlesque verse called Les Charmans effects des barricades: ou l'Amitié durable de la compagnie des Frères bachiques de pique-nique : en vers burlesque (The Lasting Friendship of the Band of Brothers of the Bacchic Picnic). The satire describes Brother Pique-Nique who, during the civil war known as the Fronde, attacks his food with gusto instead of his enemies; Bacchus was the Roman god of wine, a reference to the drunken antics of the gourmand musketeers. By 1694 the word was listed in Gilles Ménage's Dictionnaire etymologique de la langue francaise, with the meaning of a shared meal, with each guest paying for himself, but with no reference to eating outdoors.
It reached the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française in 1840 with the same meaning. In English, "picnic" only began to refer to an outdoor meal at the beginning of the 19th century''
wikipedia

Polish

1.piknik
2.majówka «wycieczka za miasto organizowana późną wiosną lub latem, gdy jest już ciepło» ''trip out of town in spring or summer, when it is alread warm"..

The custom of going on a ''majówka '' dates back to the 18th century and was originally only celebrated by Polish kings and aristocracy. One of the rulers going on such trips was King Stanisław August Poniatowski. Over time, the practice began to spread to lower and lower social groups - first the wealthy bourgeoisie joined in, followed by workers and servants.

How do you say pique-nique in your language ?
 
    • In French, we also have the verb pique-niquer (to picnic), derived from the noun pique-nique.

    Aujourd'hui, nous pique-niquons avec mes amis au jardin des Tuileries.

    Włoskipolak 72 said:
    One of the rulers going on such trips was King Stanisław August Poniatowski.
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    We have had a member of the Poniatowski family in the 1970s in France, as a minister in the government of President Giscard d'Estaing, Michel Poniatowski.
     
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    Cymraeg/Welsh

    picnic     (n.m.)
    bwyd (n.m.) ambor ('pasture food'). Used in South Wales.

    picnicio (vn.) 'picknicking'
    cael (vn.) picnic 'picknicking' ('to receive a picnic' = 'to have a picnic')
    picnica (vn.) 'picknicking' (When you picnic habitually).

    First noted as a noun in 1862.

    Unlike our fellow-Europeans in Poland, Germany and France, we don't have a <k> or <q> in our alphabet, so [k] is always written as <c>. (Except in the Middle Period.)
     
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    Greek «πικνίκ» [ˌpikˈnik] (neuter, indeclinable) < Fr. pique-nique.
    «Πάμε για πικνίκ» [ˈpame̞.ʝaˌpikˈnik] --> we go for picnic (we go on a picnic).

    The Greek translation is «υπαίθριο γεύμα» [iˈpe̞θɾio̞ˈʝe̞vma] (both neuter) --> lit. hypaethral meal.

    -The adjective is «υπαίθριος, -α, -ο» [iˈpe̞θɾio̞s̠] (masc.), [iˈpe̞θɾia] (fem.), [iˈpe̞θɾio̞] (neut.) --> hypaethral, outdoor, open-air < Classical adjective «ὑπαίθριος, -ος, -ον» /hyˈpɐi̯tʰrios/ (masc. or fem.), /hyˈpɐi̯tʰion/ (neut.) --> under the sky, in the open air < Classical feminine noun «ὕπαιθρος» /ˈhypɐi̯tʰros/ --> open enclosure, the fields a compound: Prefix & preposition «ὑπό» /hyˈpo/ + masculine 3rd declension noun «αἰθήρ» /ɐi̯ˈtʰɛːr/ (nom. sing.), «αἰθέρος» /ɐi̯ˈtʰeros/ (gen. sing.) --> (poetic) the clear sky, ether a deverbal from the verb «αἴθω» /ˈɐi̯tʰɔː/.

    -The neuter noun «γεύμα» [ˈʝe̞vma] in MoGr means meal, lunch < Classical neuter noun «γεῦμα» /ˈgeû̯mɐ/ --> taste, distinct flavour, a deverbal from the verb «γεύω» /ˈgeu̯ɔː/.
     
    @Yendred (et al.)

    You probably know Le Déjeuner sur l'herbe - Wikipedia by Manet. Why is this not referred to as 'pique-nique', I wonder? Perhaps because of some pudeur with regard to 'nique' - although the painting itself is overtly sexual ...

    Interestingly, I note that the painting dates from only a year later than the first Welsh reference to picnic (See above). I don't think we'd translate the name of Manet's work.
     
    In my experience Picnic is not used exactly like Pique-nique.

    In America picnic is a full meal eaten outside with your family or your lover. You have a blanket or tablecloth and you have given thought to it. You take a basket with salads, grilled meat or fish etc. wine. Always forks, knives, glasses, real or plastic. It could also be an outdoor party with more people.

    In France I have heard pique-nique in more informal and extended contexts. I have heard it by people meaning to grab a sandwich and sit on a park bench, and eat quickly something for lunch. Often when i hear it i think there is nothing "picnic" about it. Then I realized it really means "piquer", grab something, spontaneous, to eat anywhere and quick.

    Perhaps Manet had to say "déjeuner sur l'herbe" to express the idea I expressed above because "pique-nique" didn't work like "picnic" even back then.
     
    ^^Likewise here, we don't do the blanket/tablecloth thing, there are dedicated benches at various places (I know of a few on Pentelicus mountain, as a kid we spent with my family a few hours eating and playing around under the conifer trees)
    bench.jpg
     
    apmoy70 said:
    ^^Likewise here, we don't do the blanket/tablecloth thing, there are dedicated benches at various places (I know of a few on Pentelicus mountain, as a kid we spent with my family a few hours eating and playing around under the conifer trees)
    View attachment 87140
    Click to expand...
    You find those picnic tables in the US too in rest areas by the side of the road. I guess the tablecloth is up to you. The table is kind of dirty as it's always exposed to the elements and some people leave their garbage there.
     
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    Swedish:
    Picknick - it's eating a meal outdoors, on a blanket or a tablecloth. There are places with tables like those in post #10, but those are usually found along some walking trails and such, not in a park or out in the nature. In Sweden you can sit down and have a picknick almost anywhere outdoors, as long as it's not in somebody's garden, as we have Freedom to roam, Freedom to roam - Wikipedia Usually this is how a picknick looks:

    picknick.jpg


    When it's children in preschool or school, there is gå på utflykt (go on excursion, literally out + flight), where there's always a matsäck (food sack, packed lunch) with, usually sandwiches, some fruit and some kind of beverage.

    2160897.jpg
     
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    merquiades said:
    @AutumnOwl
    Your first picture is a "picnic".
    The second one with the kids is a "field trip".
    Click to expand...
    The kids do think of it as a pickpick, not as a field trip. For them the idea of having a matsäck with them, and be allowed to eat outdoors is usually the highlight. For them a "field trip" ends with having lunch at school.

    If I was planning a picnic, I'd probably talk about göra en utflykt if I planned to go out somewhere outdoors to have a picnic, to me ha en picknick is something you have in a city park, or at/after some kind of event. The food would be the same at both.
     
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    AutumnOwl said:
    The kids do think of it as a pickpick, not as a field trip. For them the idea of having a matsäck with them, and be allowed to eat outdoors is usually the highlight. For them a "field trip" ends with having lunch at school.
    Click to expand...
    In the US distances are greater and any outing takes most of the day. Lunch the picnic is often on the school bus.

    If I was planning a picnic, I'd probably talk about göra en utflykt if I planned to go out somewhere outdoors to have a picnic, to me ha en picknick is something you have in a city park, or at/after some kind of event. The food would be the same at both.
    Click to expand...
    @AutumnOwl For me you can have a picnic on the countryside, in a city park or even in your back yard. It just needs to be a planned event with real food, drink, a blanket/tablecloth, sun and fun, just like your first picture in #12.


    To the "elements" in question, I'll add bird droppings :(
    Click to expand...
    @Yendred Beware of wildlife too. Gray squirrels, feral cats, coyotes, wild birds, snakes, wasps, hornets, arts and bees are hungry and not afraid of picnickers anymore. They can disrupt your romantic déjeuner sur l'herbe.
     
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    merquiades said:
    In the US distances are greater and any outing takes most of the day. Lunch the picnic is often on the school bus.
    Click to expand...
    Well, the distances here are usually much shorter. I checked on a map the distances for outings I had in middle and junior high school, and it took about 10 - 15 minutes by bus to get there. To some sports events we might even walk, a 40 minute walk, or 10 minutes by bicycle to Bjursjöns friluftsområde - Uddevalla kommun
     
    merquiades said:
    In America picnic is a full meal eaten outside with your family or your lover. You have a blanket or tablecloth and you have given thought to it. You take a basket with salads, grilled meat or fish etc. wine. Always forks, knives, glasses, real or plastic. It could also be an outdoor party with more people.

    In France I have heard pique-nique in more informal and extended contexts. I have heard it by people meaning to grab a sandwich and sit on a park bench, and eat quickly something for lunch. Often when i hear it i think there is nothing "picnic" about it. Then I realized it really means "piquer", grab something, spontaneous, to eat anywhere and quick.

    Perhaps Manet had to say "déjeuner sur l'herbe" to express the idea I expressed above because "pique-nique" didn't work like "picnic" even back then.
    Click to expand...
    Interesting dictinction, but I do not recognize the French variant in the Dutch picknick(en). It is meant to be some fun meal outside, mainly sandwiches, salads, fingerfood, and drinks of course, but mainly informal. I could imagine a more formal variant, including sparkling wine and more (champagne), but that might look like more like a stylish brunch, but with an outside twitch (...).
     
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