183. Parvenu: New Money Through a French Lens

Emily and Kyle get a little bourgeois this week, and uncover why that’s considered such a bad thing. They’ll look at French history, wealthy upstarts, and some classic New York literature as they explore the word parvenu.

Our hosts travel through French etymology and arrive at a word describing those who have… well, arrived. They discuss how money, unfortunately, isn’t everything; Emily reveals some not-so-nice opinions on the idea of a social climber; and Kyle discovers some new words that he now holds near and dear to his spleen.

The pair then dig into some of the cultural and historical factors at play in our views of the nouveau riche. Emily walks through the shifting tides of old money and new money in pre- and post-revolutionary France, and along the way Kyle learns exactly what it means to be bougie.