gaga

Forms

gaga (plural gagas)^[1] Daudet's first record (1879) is hyphenated ga-ga.^[2]

Etymology

It is an expressive formation imitating the mumbling of old people who have fallen into their second childhood.^[2][3][4][5] The Grand Robert and Wiktionary derive it from French gâteux (“senile”), by doubling its first syllable;^[6][1] Rey finds the link with that adjective obvious, since it has the same meaning,^[3] while the TLFi counts it as only secondary.^[2] Bloch and Wartburg note that a syllable ⟨gag-⟩ with the same value is found in other languages.^[4][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alphonse Daudet first uses it in Les Rois en exil (1879), writing ga-ga of a monarchy left to end its days in an invalid's chair.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word means “in one's dotage, senile”, of a person, usually old, whose mind has failed, and is used as a noun and an adjective.^[2][7] By extension it came to mean “idiotic” (1916, Barbusse).^[3] Familiar French also says that someone is gaga de a person or thing, “infatuated with”.^[8][1]

English took over gaga “crazy, silly” in 1917, as a piece of French slang.^[9]

Timeline

• 1879 – Alphonse Daudet writes ga-ga in Les Rois en exil.^[2]
• 1891 – Barrès uses devint gaga of a man.^[2]
• 1916 – Barbusse uses it for “idiot”.^[3]
• 1917 – English gaga is recorded as recent French slang.^[9]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (familiar) senile, in one's dotage; gâteux, mon grand-père devient gaga.^[2][8][1]
2. (familiar) Foolish, crazy.^[3][1]
3. (familiar) Gaga de: infatuated with, mad about someone or something.^[8][1][10]

Noun

1. (familiar) A senile person, un vieux gaga.^[2][7]

Related words

• gâteux
• gâtisme

Usage notes

In Saint-Étienne a homograph gaga is a familiar name for the city's people and for the local French of the town and the northern Forez; it comes from Occitan gagas, a nickname of the Stéphanois, and ultimately Latin gagātēs (“jet”), which Wiktionnaire links to the coal deposits on which the town grew.^[1][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b 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. 4, 20b
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
8. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
10. ^ a b Wiktionnaire (French Wiktionary), fr.wiktionary.org