Saint Sulpice

[isabelle hayes]

i'm reading L'armee des ombres, and have come across a reference to "Saint Sulpice"; i know this is a church, in Paris, i think, but the reference is to "un ton Saint-Sulpice", as being inappropriate when the subject is the heroism of the resistance

my french english dictionary is no help

please give me the secret of this phrase

TIA

Isabelle

[Frank]

Hello Isabelle,

You're right, Saint Sulpice is a nice church in Paris. There were a lot of religious-related shops around. I guess "Un ton Saint-Sulpice" means a place with a lot of things that make you think about a religion, esp. Christianity. It's a pejorative way of describing such a place. It means something like "an atmosphere of Goddism".

[isabelle hayes]

merci beaucoup, frank; now that i think about it, it should have been evident

Isabelle

[Frank]

Hello Isabelle,

It's shouldn't have been evident at all. Understanding this phrase is not a vocab issue. You have to know about Saint Sulpice and its history, and I guess even people living in France, but not in Paris, wouldn't have understood it.