What is the origin of word “bistro”?
A bistro is a familiar name for a café serving moderately priced simple meals in an unpretentious setting, especially in Paris; bistros have become increasingly popular with tourists. The word stems from the Russian word быстро (bystro) which means ‘Hurry’. Russian soldiers occupying France after the Napoleonic Wars would frequently demand that French civilians serve their food quickly, shouting the word that evolved into the neologism ‘Bistro’ at them. The “Russian” etymology presented above is disputed. Cossack solders occupied Paris in 1815 but the first recorded use of the word appears in 1884, almost seventy years later, and in 1892 (“bistrot”). Another possible source for the word could be bistraud, a word in the Poitou dialect which means a “lesser servant.” Another possible source for the word is bistouille or bistrouille, a colloquial term from northern area of France, which is a mixture of brandy and coffee; precisely the kind of beverage that could be served at a bistro.
