Liver : nm Le liver is an organ located in the upper right part of the abdomen, which plays an essential physiological role.
To have the livers: to be very afraid.
To have white livers: to be scared to death; to be scared to death.
(See explanation below for this expression).
White Liver: Thief willing to leave his band and report it.
Having white livers: being shy, lacking courage, audacity.
Have legs in liver pâté: have soft legs from fatigue.
Eat/eat someone's liver(s): serious threat.
To have the livers returned: to be mad with fear.
Foie gras: having foie gras: having cirrhosis
Quote from the novel The postman by Charles Bukowski, American writer:
“We drove all morning. Someone was trying to screw me over. »
The expression “To have the livers”: To be afraid.
The expression has existed in this form since 1872, but before that it was said have white livers. Our expression is therefore an ellipse of the original one.
We all know that time is dark red. In the past, anatomists even said that it was he who supplied blood to the body. However, red has long been the symbol of courage, of strength.
This is why a white liver, such as would be in the imagination a liver deprived of its blood, has become the symbol of cowardice and fear (but also of treachery, since the coward is a potential traitor, traitor which was then called a white liver).
In addition to white livers, it has also been used with the same meaning have blue livers ou have green livers (just as one can be green from fear), colors opposed to red.
Excerpt from the song Under arrest by French singer Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991):
You're under arrest
Cause you are the best
It was two black policemen
Who practiced the slang
As well as the colt cobra
They pin me to the wall of the Bronx
And I challenge anyone
Of not having the livers