Le Canard enchaîné Free Man") which was forced to close by government censorship and reacted upon its reopening by changing its name to "L'homme enchaîné" ("The Chained-up Man"); "Le Canard enchaîné" means "The chained-up duck", but "canard" (duck) is also French slang for "newspaper"; it was also a reference to French journals published by soldiers during World War I. The weekly was founded in 1915 by and his wife , along with H. P. Gassier. It changed its title briefly after World War I to "Le Canard Déchaîné" ("The duck unbound", or "out of control"), to celebrate the end of military censorship of
Le Canard enchaîné the press. It resumed the title "Le Canard enchaîné" in 1920. The title also conveys a double meaning, "canard" being a possible salacious rumour or whisper and "enchaîné" simply meaning linked, hence "the inside whisper". It continued to publish and grow in popularity and influence until it was forced to suspend publication during the German occupation of France in 1940. After the liberation of France, it resumed publication. It changed to its eight-page format in the 1960s. Many of the "Canard"'s early contributors were members of the Communist and Socialist parties, but it shed its alignment with those groups in