Great men have not been boasters and buffoons, but perceivers of the terror of life, and have manned themselves to face it.
― Ralph Waldo Emerson
English borrowed the oft-used word buffoon from the 16th century French word bouffon, meaning a professional clown, joker, or comic fool.
The French borrowed their word from the Italian buffare, meaning "to puff out the cheeks," a routine gesture performed by jesters.
Jesters would swell their cheeks and slap them to expel the air, producing a noise resembling a fart.
