Literal translation
stubborn as Tistet
Meaning
as stubborn as Tistet
Explanation
The expression compares someone's stubbornness to that of Tistet, a figure attested in our sources as a popular diminutive of the given name Batiste, which through common usage came to embody hardheadedness and obstinacy. Literally, testard coume Tistet translates as stubborn as Tistet: the comparison works like those built on a given name turned proverbial, similar to the French stubborn as a mule or as a donkey, except that here the reference point is a person's name. This device, common in Provençal folklore, roots the expression in a village imagination where certain names come to name a trait of character recognized by everyone, though its precise origin cannot always be traced. The register is familiar and affectionately teasing, used to comment good humoredly and gently on a relative's stubbornness, often a child's or a family member's.