torcher

Forms

torcher^[1] Old French torchier; the spelling torcher appears in the 15th century.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from French torche + -er, from the noun in its old sense “twisted bundle of straw”.^{[4][5][6][7][1]} The noun is from Vulgar Latin *torca, from torqua, a form of torquēs (“collar”), after torqueō (“to twist”).^[5]

Old Occitan had the verb torcar.^[5] Littré compares the Berry form trocher, Walloon toirchî “to twist” and Catalan torcar.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Wace has torchier about 1155 in the sense “to fold so as to make into a bundle”.^[2][8] The Roman d'Eneas (about 1160) has the sense “to wipe, rub clean”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense was to wipe by rubbing with a wisp of straw, and it was used of rubbing down a horse (about 1165).^[6][4] Regional French kept the general sense “to wipe” in many areas, but in the standard language the verb narrowed to wiping off excrement (late 12th century, torchier son cul; reflexive se torcher in Rabelais, 1534), and this gave a popular or vulgar tone to all its other uses.^[6][4] From it came se torcher le derrière de (1640) and s'en torcher, “not to care about”.^[4][6]

From the 13th century it also meant building a wall of torchis, a quicker job than stonework, hence figuratively “to botch (a piece of work)” (1798) and “to do quickly” (1875).^[6] A figurative sense “to beat” is found as early as 1214.^[6][2] In the 20th century the oil industry used it for burning off surplus gas in a flare stack.^[4][8]

Timeline

• c. 1155 – Wace uses torchier for folding into a bundle.^[2][8]
• c. 1160 – The Roman d'Eneas uses it for wiping clean.^[4]
• c. 1165 – Chrétien de Troyes's Guillaume d'Angleterre uses it for rubbing down a horse.^[4]
• Late 12th century – Torchier son cul is recorded.^[4][6]
• 1214 – A figurative sense “to beat” appears.^[6][2]
• After 1250 – It is used for building a wall of torchis.^[6]
• 1534 – Rabelais uses the reflexive se torcher.^[4][6]
• 1640 – Oudin records se torcher le derrière de “to care nothing for”.^[4]
• 1798 – The Académie records the sense “to botch”.^[2][3]
• Mid-20th century – The sense “to flare (gas)” appears.^[8]

Meanings

Verb

1. (familiar) To wipe clean, as in torcher une assiette.^[3][4]
2. (familiar) To wipe the bottom of: torcher un bébé; reflexive se torcher.^[3][4]
3. (vulgar, figurative) S'en torcher: not to care at all about something.^[3][6][1]
4. (technical) To build (a wall) of torchis.^[3][4]
5. (familiar) To botch, to dash off quickly and carelessly: torcher un rapport.^[3][4]
6. (petroleum industry) To burn off surplus gas, to flare.^[4][1]
7. (slang, reflexive) Se torcher: to get drunk, also to fight one another.^[6][1]

Word family

• torchage
• torche-cul

Related words

• torche
• torchis

Usage notes

The Grand Robert gives the sense “to flare (gas)” as a separate torcher 2, dated to the mid-20th century and also formed from torche.^[8] Rey notes that torcher “to wipe” survives regionally in Burgundy, Champagne, the Ardennes and elsewhere.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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
5. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert