# 'Crème de la crème' - did this phrase originate with The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-de-la-creme-did-this-phrase-originate-with-the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie/489144>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 11, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-de-la-creme-did-this-phrase-originate-with-the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie/489144 "2009-03-11T23:38:26Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-de-la-creme-did-this-phrase-originate-with-the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie/489144/1 "2009-03-11T23:38:26Z")

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Was Muriel Spark responsible for the phrase entering the lexicon, as I have seen claimed? Or did it already exist and her usage of it in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie merely popularised its use?

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**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2009, 11:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-de-la-creme-did-this-phrase-originate-with-the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie/489144/2 "2009-03-11T23:45:33Z")

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I hope nobody really believes this.

> **[Search 'Cr�me de la 'Cr�me' on etymonline](https://www.etymonline.com/search?q=Cr%EF%BF%BDme%20de%20la%20%27Cr%EF%BF%BDme)**
>
> Search results for 'Cr�me de la 'Cr�me' on etymonline

> [@](#):
>
> creme  
> 1845, from Fr. crème (see cream). Crème de la crème “elite of society” is 1848.

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**Author:** ![jovan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/0ea827/32.png) [@jovan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jovan)\
**Post date:** [March 12, 2009, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/creme-de-la-creme-did-this-phrase-originate-with-the-prime-of-miss-jean-brodie/489144/3 "2009-03-12T04:26:45Z")

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According to the _Trésor de la langue française_, the use of _crème_ to mean the best part of something is first attested in 1580 in the writings of Montaigne:  
[Talking about Seneca and Plutarch] Their teaching is the cream of philosophy and presented in a simple fashion and pertinent.

_Leur instruction est de la cresme de la philosophie et presentée d’une simple façon et pertinente._

Unfortunately, I can’t find exactly when the form _crème de la crème_ first appears, but I’d be willing to guess it goes back a long time.