A second speculation is that it comes from the fifteenth-century songs on satire by poet Olivier Basselin, Vaux de Vire.[2] In his Connections television series, science historian James Burke claims that the term is a corruption of the French Vau de Vire (Vire River Valley, in English), an area known for its bawdy drinking songs and where Basselin lived.[3] Some, however, preferred the earli