IdiomNature
French
FrenchSentir le fagot
Meaning: To reek of heresy; more broadly, to arouse suspicion or invite condemnation.
Literally: To smell of the firewood bundle
Example: “Aux yeux du conseil municipal, ses idées sur l'école sentent le fagot.” — In the city council's eyes, his ideas about the school smack of heresy.
Origin: Born in the 16th century from execution by burning. The pyre was built of logs ringed with fagots of kindling laid to catch quickly, so the condemned smelled unmistakably of burning brushwood. First said of those judged irreligious, later of any person, opinion or work considered subversive.
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