Etymologically
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chier

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Pronunciation

Forms

chier[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chier, inherited from Latin cacō (“to defecate”).[2][3][4][5] The regional and less coarse verbs caquer and caguer (the latter through Old Occitan cagar) come from the same Latin verb, and so do caca and cagot.[3][1]

Cognate with Italian cacare, Spanish cagar, Portuguese cagar and Catalan cagar.[4][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Roman de Renart (about 1202) has it in the plain sense, to void excrement;[2][7] Littré quotes a branch in which an animal chia seur le musel au vilain and woke him.[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Rabelais (1534) has c'est bien chié “that is well said”, and the participle chié still means “terrific” in slang.[2][3] Envoyer chier quelqu'un “to tell someone to get lost” is found in 1649, in a Fronde pamphlet, and à chier dessus “awful” in 1742.[8][3] Brantôme has chier sur la Bible, “to abandon one's faith”.[7]

In the 20th century the verb produced many figurative phrases: (se) faire chier “to (get) bored, to annoy”, en chier “to have a hard time”, ça va chier “there'll be trouble” and il n'y a pas à chier “there's no getting round it” (1920), and nul à chier (about 1985).[3][9]

Timeline

  • c. 1202 – In the Roman de Renart.[2]
  • 1534 – C'est bien chié, in Rabelais, chienlit.[2][3]
  • 1578 – The derivative chiasse.[4][3]
  • 1649 – Envoyer chier.[8]
  • 1742 – À chier dessus.[8]
  • 1920 – Ça va chier, il n'y a pas à chier, and chiant.[3]
  • c. 1985 – Nul à chier.[3]

Meanings

Verb

  1. (vulgar) To shit, defecate.[9][1]
  2. Faire chier quelqu'un: to annoy, bug someone, se faire chier, to be bored stiff.[9][10]
  3. Envoyer chier quelqu'un: to tell someone to get lost.[9][8]
  4. En chier: to have a really hard time, ça va chier, there's going to be trouble.[9][3]
  5. À chier, nul à chier: awful, useless.[9][10]

Word family

  • chiasse
  • chieur
  • chiure
  • chiotte
  • chiant
  • chienlit

Usage notes

The verb and most of its derivatives are vulgar;[3][9] chiant “boring, annoying” (1920) and chiure (1642), used of fly-specks, are less strongly marked.[3][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 2, 16a
  6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  7. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  8. ^ a b c d Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)