The double meaning of brassage 

There is, it seems, an appli (the French abbreviation for a smartphone application, or an app as we call it) for just about everything these days, making all things virtual or manageable at the touch of a button.

Attending a recent all-day children’s football tournament, all parents were sent a link to an appli detailing the fixtures (calendrier), results (résultats), real-time league standings (classement) and more. As with much of modern life, it was tempting to spend more time consulting one’s phone than watching actual events unfold before one’s very eyes.

The initial phase of the tournament, said the appli, was called ‘phase de brassage’ which I immediately understood to mean ‘brewing phase’ given that brassage is the generally used word for beer brewing. Clearly the word has a second meaning – the youngsters were not about to indulge in a spot of IPA home brewing before kick-off.

And yes, brassage also means the act of stirring something, such as metal for the coining of money. It stems from brasse (to stir) from Old French bracier (to brew), and earlier from the Vulgar Latin braciare, from the Latin braces, a kind of spelt.

In a social context it can also be used, says the l’Académie française, to describe “Le brassage des populations, des races, des civilisations, des classes sociales” – the mixing of peoples, races, civilisations, and social classes.

Which is why the 36 teams in the football tournament were thrown into brassage groups to ‘mix them up’ and establish a pecking order for the next round of the tournament. Brasseries are also named for their beer-serving origins.