cacchio

cacchio¹ euphemism for cazzo

Etymology tree of cacchio¹

inherited borrowed derived

Italian cazzo

Italian cacchio

From the same root · cacchio¹

Italian cazzata ← cazzo

Pronunciation

• /ˈkak.kjo/^[1]

Forms

cacchio m (plural cacchi), also an interjection^[2][3][1]

Etymology

The euphemism is from Italian cazzo, altered to avoid the taboo word, according to Sabatini–Coletti, Zingarelli and Wiktionary.^[3][4][1][5] GRADIT instead derives it from homograph 2, the word for an unfruitful shoot, and DELI likewise says that the plant word spread as a euphemistic variant of the vulgar term.^[6][7]

Nocentini stresses the assonance: like cappero, caspita and cavolo, the word shares the stressed first syllable ⟨ca-⟩ with the vulgar word.^[8] He points to the parallel verbs incavolarsi and incacchiarsi, both standing for incazzarsi.^[8]

Loporcaro derives the Romanesco word, recorded from the middle of the 19th century, from Neapolitan cacchio (“fool”), which would continue Latin capulus (“handle”), a word used with an obscene sense by Plautus and in the Priapea.^[8] Nocentini objects that this leaves an enormous gap in time, and that Belli's sonnet ⟨Er padre de li santi⟩ does not include the word among its Roman synonyms of the vulgar term.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Zingarelli dates the euphemism to 1943 and Sabatini–Coletti to before 1943, while GRADIT and Devoto–Oli give 1955.^[4][3][6][2] In Rome the word was already in use in the middle of the 19th century, according to Nocentini.^[8] The GDLI quotes Carlo Emilio Gadda: della società non glie ne importa un cacchio (“they don't give a damn about society”).^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word stands in for the vulgar term in its figurative and exclamatory uses: as a cry of surprise, as an emphatic word in questions and expressive phrases, and to mean “nothing at all”.^{[5][10][9][2]} The GDLI labels it dialectal.^[9] Derivatives copy those of the vulgar word: cacchiata in the 20th century and incacchiarsi from 1964.^[6]

Timeline

• 1943 – First record in Italian as a euphemism.^[4][3]
• 20th century – Cacchiata, a euphemism for cazzata, appears.^[6]
• 1964 – Incacchiarsi “to get angry” is first recorded.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. (colloquial, euphemistic) Used in place of cazzo in its figurative uses, as an intensifier or for “nothing at all”: Non ci ho capito un cacchio.^[6][2][3][4]

Interjection

1. (colloquial) damn!, expressing surprise or annoyance: Cacchio, ho perso le chiavi!^{[5][10][9][1]}

Word family

• cacchiata
• incacchiarsi

cacchio² unfruitful shoot

Etymology tree of cacchio²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin catulus

Italian cacchio

From the same root · cacchio²

Latin catellus ← catulus

Pronunciation

• /ˈkak.kjo/^[1]

Forms

cacchio m (plural cacchi)^[1]

Etymology

The word for an unfruitful shoot is inherited from Latin catulus (“puppy, young animal”).^{[7][8][6][1][11]} Wiktionary gives the contracted forms Vulgar Latin *catlus and *caclus.^[1] The change of ⟨-tl-⟩ to ⟨cchi⟩ is the same as in vecchio from vetulus.^[7]

Nocentini sees a metaphor that carried the word from animals to plants: the newly sprouted shoot is like the young of an animal, as with pollone.^[8] DELI says that the Latin word already meant a vine shoot in late times, and DEI compares a Late Latin use glossed by Paulus Festus as a kind of bond.^[7][11]

Romansh caigl (“sprout”) may belong here, though Salvioni doubted it.^[12] The LEI accepts, against Farè, Schorta's derivation of Romansh sprout words from the same Latin word.^[13] Corominas derives Spanish cachorro (“puppy”) from an expressive Vulgar Latin *cattulus.^[13]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *katelos (“cub”) and has a parallel in Umbrian.^[14][1] De Vaan doubts an Indo-European origin despite Middle High German hatele (“goat”) and Old Norse haðna (“young goat”).^[14][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first records are in the dictionaries of Oudin (1663), cited by Prati, and Duez (1664), for a shoot of a cultivated plant that bears no fruit.^[7][15] The GDLI defines it as the first shoot of the vine.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The derivative cacchione is older than the word itself: about 1350 the Italian version of Crescenzi uses it for the larva of the bee, and about 1449 Burchiello for the eggs of flies.^[7][13] Oudin also records cacchioni for a chick's first feathers and cacchioso “full of shoots”.^[7][15] Scacchiare, to strip a plant of its useless shoots, dates from the 16th century and scacchiatura from the 18th.^[8]

The dialects show related senses: Abruzzese and Umbrian forms mean a shoot or tendril, Roman cacchio a small bunch of grapes, and Neapolitan cacchio the larva of an insect.^[11][15][13] In standard Italian the word is a technical term of little use, applied to the vine and also to the tomato.^[6][10]

Timeline

• About 1350 – The derivative cacchione “bee larva” appears in the Italian version of Crescenzi.^[7]
• About 1449 – Burchiello uses cacchione for the eggs of flies.^[13]
• 16th century – Scacchiare is first recorded.^[8]
• 1663 – Oudin records cacchio.^[7][15]
• 1664 – Duez records it.^[7]
• 18th century – Scacchiatura is first recorded.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. (botany, agriculture) An unfruitful shoot or sucker of a cultivated plant, especially the vine or the tomato, usually removed to strengthen the fruiting branches: Ha tolto i cacchi alle piante dell’orto.^{[6][4][10][16]}

Word family

• cacchione
• scacchiare
• scacchiatura