French for “to our sheep,” a shortened version of Revenons à nos moutons, “Let us return to our sheep,” meaning, “Let’s get back to the subject.” Gibson here is using it to say that he is getting ahead of his story or that he has caught himself wandering off on a tangent. The phrase comes from a 15th century French comedy. One of the characters accuses another, a shepherd, of being cruel to his sheep. The accuser testifies against the shepherd before a judge, but in doing so keeps digressing from the subject. The exasperated judge interrupts him continually to plead, “Mais, mon ami, revenons à nos moutons.” Rabelais was fond of the phrase and frequently quoted it in his own work. In addition to “sheep,” moutoun can mean sheepskin, mutton, a white cap on the sea, or a stool pigeon.
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