via Internet Archive—
Spoiler alert: While it’s hard to imagine that the torture scene in Casino Royale is much of a surprise to anyone, that’s what we’re talking about here.
Stop reading here if that sort of discussion might spoil anything for you.
For the rest of us— I wanted to let you know that the words, “Don’t Le Chiffre me” have already crossed my lips since seeing the latest James Bond 007 film feature yesterday. It’s a guy thing, calling someone on what is, I admit, usually a mere verbal jibe.
To be “La Chiffred” (pronounced “la-sheef-ed”) connotes the even greater context conveyed through the Casino Royale torture scene. La Chiffre is an opponent who cheats to get the upper hand. He attacks only after his henchmen have secured position on his behalf. Then, with no sense of boundaries, come his low blows, so to speak.
James Bond 007, secure in his masculinity and unyielding to such an unworthy opponent, mocks Le Chiffre.*
This is the the fullest message conveyed when labeling your experience at the hand of an adversary as a “La Chiffre.” For the perpetrator, clearly a moniker of shame.
That’s how I intend that it be heard.
Application:
It can unmask behavior, call it to account, suggesting the question, “You’ve crossed a line, do you really want to go there?” Or, more harshly, “You’ve already passed the point of no return: Stop before your friends see you scratching around in a way that’s obviously more humiliating to you than anyone else.”
Should you see La Chiffred appear in context elsewhere, remember that you read it here, first.
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* An oversimplification I reserve the right to address later, elsewhere. But it remains here, intact as written, for the value its more narrow construct in advancement of the local position taken here.