The spooky story behind on n'est pas sorti de l'auberge

Halloween is here! On the spookiest weekend of the year, we take a look at the horror story behind the French expression: on n'est pas sorti de l'auberge.

The English equivalent is something like 'we are not out of the woods yet,' to mean we are still in a difficult situation. 

It is a common phrase in French but where does it come from and is it based on a real auberge?

What does être sorti de l'auberge mean?

First, we look at the literal meaning of the phrase and, translated word for word, it means: we have not yet left the hostel.

It is usually said when someone has been experiencing a challenge, and despite trying to make progress, the situation persists.

In the 15th Century, auberge - then in the form aulberge - defined a rough camp or a hut. It came from a West Germanic word to describe a place where an army would lodge, according to digital media website O'Parleur.

This evolved over time and by the 17th Century it had taken on its more modern meaning to define a gîte or some other form of accommodation. Today, the French word for a youth hostel is auberge de jeunesse.

Why then, is an auberge likened to a difficult situation that people cannot get out of?

What are the origins of être sorti de l'auberge?

There are two popular etymologies and one of them involves the brutal tale of mass murder and cannibalism. 

In the 1830s, a corpse was found by a river near an inn named l’Auberge de Peyrebeille in Ardèche.

The inn was run by couple Pierre and Marie Martin, who were accused of murdering the man, thought to be a customer.

During the subsequent trial, witnesses came forward to claim that the couple were responsible for up to 50 other murders at the inn and of rape and cannibalism.

Rumours went around that the Martins would serve their victims meals containing the cooked body parts of previous victims.

The couple were convicted and put to death by guillotine in front of the inn, along with their employee, Jean Rochette.

Since then, scholars have raised doubts about the fairness of the trial and the claims against the couple.

Their inn came to be known as the Red Inn and it quickly became a part of popular folklore. Songs, plays and stories were written about it, describing how once clients went into the auberge, they never came out again. Hence the expression on n'est pas encore sorti de l'auberge, to mean being stuck in a bad situation.

The trouble with this explanation is that the expression actually existed before the events at the Red Inn, O'Parleur points out. The website offers an alternative explanation.

It states that in the 19th Century, the word auberge was slang for a prison. Criminals might refer to their “stay” in jail as being put up in a hostel (auberge). However, unlike a normal hostel, it was much harder to get out.

It is possible that the expression actually came about because of the slang reference to prisons but was then further popularised after the Red Inn events.

In any case, it seems that the innocent expression began life in surprisingly grim circumstances.