Vasistas

Probably one of the most hilarious words in French.

That little window above a door is called Oberlicht in German,
but the French just call it Vasistas (from German: Was ist das? What is that?)

So they basically say: What is that? Ah, it is a Whatisthat! XD

The roots of that word are not exactly known, it might be already from the baroque era,
or when France occupied western Germany during the napoleonic wars and asked the Germans
with the little german words they spoke, what that is XD

Listen to the refrain XD

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wu7zrj…

Thx for your help with the french polanball English:


________________

According to French Wiki, the original vasistas is not the top window, but the one in the door (later it became the one above the door).
It seems to come from what German people asked to visitors by that small window...
It is the first time included in a French dictionnary in 1798, but the first mention of the word dates back to 1776, before France occupied Germany.