This chapter explores the extent to which the distinctive figurative language used by linguistic purists in sixteenth-century France is underpinned by what might be termed a mercantilist conception of linguistic exchange during the period of early capitalism. We explore the everyday experience of the French readers of Henri Estienne's denunciations of what he considered to be the corrupting influence of Italian on the French language, with specific reference to their often hostile attitude towards expatriate Italian bankers and financiers, and examine how Estienne seeks to appeal, through a series of carefully chosen metaphors of economic exchange, to such 'common ground' knowledge. (David Cowling)