Descamisado

Descamisado (Spanish pronunciation: [deskamiˈsaðo]) is a Spanish word that literally means "without shirt" or "shirtless".

The term was originally used by the narrator in Victor Hugo's seminal 1862 novel Les Misérables to refer to the revolutionary Spanish masses. Following the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte at the Battle of Waterloo, the French (Bourbon) monarchy was restored to power. The Bourbons acted to prop up the Spanish monarchy against the popular forces of the Spanish social revolution in the Spanish War of 1823. Hugo's character is commenting on the use of the term by the supporters of the French Bourbons. The word was used pejoratively and in direct comparison to the derogative term applied to the French popular masses, the sans-culottes of the French bourgeoisie revolution of 1789.