Literal Translation
To pull the worms out of the nose
Actual Meaning
To extract information out of someone
Etymology
This expression already appeared in writings from the early 15th century. The most popular hypothesis about its origin suggests that it comes from rinar worms, parasites that invaded humans’ noses and drove them mad. As it was frowned upon to have them, doctors had to question their patients to get them to admit that they did, before they could pull the worms out of their noses… Although amusing, this hypothesis is unlikely to be true.
Today, several theories are floating around and could make sense, but no specialist has managed to come up with a history that really settles the question of the term’s origin. The first hypothesis is that ‘tirer les VERS du nez’ refers to the Latin verum, ‘the truth’ – verum, vers… It would therefore be a colourful way of saying ‘pulling the truth from the nose’. Others, such as lexicologist Alain Rey, believe that the expression does indeed refer to earthworms. According to him, ‘to pull worms from the nose’ refers to extracting something unspeakable, shameful or dirty from someone. Apparently, the expression exists in almost identical form in English: ‘To worm a secret out of somebody’. “Worm”, used here as a verb, means ‘earthworm’.