décrocher

Forms

décrocher^[1] Old French descrochier.^[2]

Etymology

It is formed from French dé- + croc (“hook”), with the verb ending -er.^[3][4][5][6] The noun is from Frankish *krōk (“hook”), which corresponds to Old Norse krókr.^[3][7][8] Bloch and Wartburg list it among the derivatives of the noun, beside accrocher and raccrocher.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first form, descrochier (about 1200), meant “to unhook, take down what is hung up”, and intransitively (13th century) “to come loose and fall”.^[2][3] The TLFi's first record of the intransitive use is a mid-13th-century manuscript of Aymeri de Narbonne.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century the verb developed two opposite figurative senses, both familiar: “to obtain after an effort” (1868–1869), in keeping with décrocher la timbale (1879), and “to give up, abandon (a position)” (before 1869).^[2][3] The timbale was the prize hung at the top of a greasy pole, so the phrase means “to reach a hard goal”.^[5] The sense “to give up” is also used in military language, and with a thing as subject in aeronautics and electricity, for a breakdown in operation.^[2]

Décrocher le récepteur (1894), on the contrary, is to make the telephone work by lifting the receiver.^[2][9] In Quebec French décrocher is used for “to leave school before getting one's diploma”, with the nouns décrochage and décrocheur.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – First record as descrochier “to unhook”;^[2][7][9] Bloch and Wartburg and the Petit Robert give about 1220.^[2][7][9]
• 13th century – Intransitive use “to come loose”.^[2][3]
• 1635 – The derivative décrochement is recorded.^[2]
• 1855 – George Sand writes rire à se décrocher la mâchoire.^[3]
• 1868 – Alphonse Daudet uses it for “to obtain after an effort”.^[3]
• before 1869 – Sainte-Beuve uses it for “to abandon a position”.^[3][2]
• 1879 – Décrocher la timbale is used figuratively by Vallès.^[3]
• 1894 – Décrocher the telephone receiver is recorded.^[2][9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take down or unhook something that was hung up: décrocher une affiche.^[9][10]
2. To pick up the telephone by lifting the receiver: décrocher le téléphone.^[9][10]
3. (figurative, familiar) To get, to land something after an effort or by luck: décrocher son diplôme.^[9][10][5]
4. (sport) To outdistance, to leave others behind.^[9][10]
5. (military) To withdraw, to fall back.^[10][2]
6. (familiar) To give up an activity, to lose interest, to stop following.^[11][10]
7. (Quebec) To drop out of school.^[2]
8. (aviation) To stall.^[1][2]

Word family

• décrochage
• décrochement

Related words

• croc
• accrocher
• raccrocher
• crochet

Usage notes

Décrocher la timbale “to pull it off” comes from the prize hung at the top of the greasy pole, and is also used ironically for an unpleasant result one did nothing to avoid.^[5] Rire à se décrocher la mâchoire is to laugh very hard.^[9][10]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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
4. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 16, 397b
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c d e f g Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
11. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)