Chiffarobe

Hello, you have A Way with Words. Hi, this is Judy King, and I’m from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Hi, Judy. Welcome to the program. What’s up? Thank you. I am wondering about the origin of the word shifarob. And why I’m wondering that is my mother had this huge piece of furniture in her house. It looked to me like it was just a freestanding closet. And we had like 10 actual closets in our house. So she didn’t need one. But this was large and beautifully built. And you would open the doors and there would be drawers inside that you could put various objects. On each side was a place you could hang things. And then when you shut it, there was a mirror. And I remember her showing this to me, and I’m like, wow, this is impressive. And she said, this is my shiffer robe. I don’t know what that word means. I don’t know where she got that word from. And so I thought I’d talk to you, and maybe you could help me out.

It sounds like an elegant bit of furniture.

It was very elegant. It was beautiful. Hand carved, all that kind of thing. And we still have it.

Yeah, of course. That sounds like an heirloom.

It is.

Yeah.

Yeah, Judy, you’re bringing back so many memories for me here. Because, yes, my grandmother, who was in southwestern Virginia, had a Schiffer robe and introduced me to it exactly the same way.

Did she really?

Very proud of it, the place to put your things.

She was.

She was. Dear, this is a shiffer robe.

Exactly. And my mom was from a river town called Madison, Indiana. And I don’t know if she grew up in an old house where they didn’t have closets, maybe.

Yeah, that was a thing, right? There’s this whole period of home building in the United States where it’s just rooms and no place to store your stuff. Nothing built into the walls. No closets.

Exactly. Exactly. That’s what it was. So your description is spot on. It’s a big piece of furniture that’s half drawers and half closet. And it’s a combination of the French word that gives us chiffonier, which is a tall chest of drawers. And that’s a really interesting word in French. Chiffonier literally means a rag gatherer. And women used to use this as a little cabinet to put their little, you know, their little odds and ends, their little knickknacks or the embroidery they were working on. So it’s literally a rag gatherer. And that became a tall chest of drawers. And then the other part is, as you suggested, it’s from wardrobe. So it’s a combination of French chiffonier and garderobe, which means, you know, a room to guard clothes.

Oh, my. Interesting.

Yeah. So it’s a blend of those things and a really lovely word. I guess we should spell it, huh, Grant?

Yeah. Yeah. And usually chiffonier, sometimes there’s some, you know, variations that we say. But yeah, usually it’s pronounced chiffonier, but it’s C-H-I-F-F-O-R-O-B-E. And then that lovely French word that you shared, chiffonier, is C-H-I-F-F-O-N-I-E-R. And so what I’m gathering here is that we’re talking about something that’s kind of like an armoire and kind of like a wardrobe.

Yeah, yeah, a combination of things.

A combination. And you know what this reminds me of is that really amazing thing that happens in English where many of our elegant words are borrowed from French. And as a matter of fact, this is common throughout Europe. So it’s no accident that those words I just gave, wardrobe and armoire and chiffonier and chiffonier plus bureau and commode and chaise longue all come from French. And you’ll find this throughout Europe that many of the more elegant pieces of furniture have modified French names in the local language.

Well, thank you so much, Judy, for sharing your story and your memories. We really appreciate it.

I really appreciate you letting me know what it means.

Our pleasure. Take care now.

Okay.

Bye.

Bye, Judy. It’s the everyday things that give us the best questions about language, and we’re waiting to hear yours. Toll-free in the United States and Canada, 877-929-9673, or email words@waywordradio.org.