“Words are the only thing we all share”: for content creator Etymocurieux, culture is at the heart of his videos

Le créateur de contenus montpelliérain Etymocurieux dissèque les mots. Midi Libre – JEAN MICHEL MART

L’influenceur montpelliérain Etymocurieux a connu un succès immédiat après s’être lancé sur les réseaux sociaux il y a un an, avec un contenu toujours très instructif.

The French language is rich and Etymocurieux is in the front row to notice it. Sébastien Grimaud, his real name, has been passionate about words and their meaning since his adolescence. A hobby that made him launch himself on social networks, in December 2023, to explain to the world the origin of French words or expressions. Today, Etymocurieux peaks at more than 267,000 followers on Instagram and 51,000 on Tiktok. Aged 31, he has lived in Montpellier for a year after falling in love with the city. “I used to come here every year when I was a teenager. I ended up settling here without regrets.”

A former Latin and music teacher, Sébastien Grimaud has always loved passing on his passion to others, especially to the youngest. “I think I'm itching to teach”, admits the content creator. The one who studied classical literature at the Sorbonne had the idea of ​​launching himself on social networks when he left national education.“I told myself that I would create an account to talk about the roots of words”.

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A French-speaking audience

A passion for culture transmitted by his elder. “I do not come from a family that could be called literate. On the other hand, my father is very interested in culture. He reads, he took us to museums a lot, he listens to classical music”, explains the very sociable Etymocurious.

Devoting a large part of his time to this project, Sébastien now occupies the rest of his schedule with concerts in Paris. “I had left that aside a bit when I was a teacher. I play the harpsichord”.

A different content from other creators

When asked to define his content, Etymocurieux replies: “I would say intellectual content. I chose a particular entry which is etymology. It is very specific. &Cedil;it sets me apart a little from the others."

A fairly rare form on platforms where humor is king. Which does not prevent him from watching comedians from time to time. “On social networks, there are not only mind-numbing things”, promises the Montpellier native.

He takes the example of the etymology of the word “lawyer”, made a few weeks ago.”“The profession and the fruit have nothing to do with each other. It's a total coincidence. Avocado in Nahuatl (Aztec), ¸it was transcribed avocado for the Spanish, and then avocat for us. And on the other side, in Rome, there were avocados. Ad vocatus, it's the one you call close to you. Voca, it's the voice. It's vox, voquis in Latin, as in invoke, vocal.”

How does he find his words? “I sit down, I think. Sometimes, a word comes. Then I look for it. Other times, it's the subscribers who write to me because they have lots of ideas.” A constant communication with his followers that he wants to perpetuate. “After posting a video, I spend the first two hours behind my phone trying to answer as many as possible.”

Followers who come from all over the French-speaking world. “There are Belgians, Swiss, Canadians, Ivorians, Quebecers, and even Congolese. Everyone loves the French language. Words are the only thing we all share. We all use the same words on a daily basis”, Sébastien believes.

A future show ?

Then, the content creator carries out his research according to his needs. “I read etymological dictionaries, old treatises on linguistics or the French language. I love reading old treatises. There are also a lot of things on the internet.”

In 2025, Etymocurieux would like to develop other projects, including the release of a book, “illustrated, for the general public”, currently being written. And why not a one-man show ? “It would be a bit of a hybrid show, with culture, art and lightness”.

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