SNP’s word of the day: Sangfroid

Illustration by Lewis Mirrett
Illustration by Lewis Mirrett

Word: Sangfroid

Meaning: Coolness and imperturbability in the face of difficult things.

Usage: “They looked like everybody else, nondescript. They shared in the torpor of the town and in its puerile agitations. They lost every trace of a critical spirit, while gaining an air of sang-froid.” — Albert CamusThe Plague

You should know it because: You’ll need it today. How infuriating are those Oscar nominations? Nada for Melancholia? Dunst? Swinton??!! Michael Fassbender‘s manparts!!!! Fine… I’m not actually that upset, but I do want to talk about sangfroid, a beautiful word stolen from the French and robbed of its hyphen some decades ago. It means, literally, “cold blood,” which is why it’s the French title of that Truman Capote book. It also describes the demeanour of the fleshless society swans he so loved; is anyone sangfroid-ier than a Voguette? Maybe Daphne Guinness, or Lady Brett in The Sun Also Rises. It’s probably easier to be—or to seem—cold-blooded if you’ve also got cold, hard cash.

More Celebrity