More words

Following the post at reference 2, another couple of phrases which have caught my eye from reference 1.

First, pension alimentaire. A phrase which seems to crop up all the time, sometimes in contexts which suggest that getting one of these is something to strive for. Almost as good as an occupational pension. Linguee confirms that the phrase covers almost any kind of maintenance payment either for a former partner or for children in the custody of a former partner. Maybe our own 'alimony' is just an abbreviated anglicisation.

But OED only talks of the word being derived from a Latin word meaning food. So perhaps a word invented by our lawyers, whom I dare say were trained in Latin until fairly recently.

Second, porte-glaive. In a context which suggests tropical fish. Linguee offers swordsman, that is to say, analogous to pikeman or bowman. While Bing, when suitably prompted, turns up a small fish with a long tail. As illustrated by the Hungarian stamp above - so perhaps you get them wild in Hungary, not tropical at all.

Tracked down to reference 3, from which I learn that the swordtail is a fish from Mexico, some varieties of which are popular in the aquarium trade. Perhaps Hungarians are known for their fondness for fish tanks.

I associate to the obituary of Diana Rigg in yesterday's Metro, which talked of her having started out as a spear-carrier at the RSC. Clearly an organisation which has been working on sex discrimination for a long time.

Reference 1: Le Compromis - Sergueϊ Dovlatov - 1981/2005.

Reference 2: https://psmv4.blogspot.com/2020/09/an-astronomical-morning.html.

Reference 3: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiphophorus.