blague French · revision 17514

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=1721|origins=gem-pro *balgiz}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /blaɡ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''blague''' ''f'' (plural blagues)^(Wiktionary)

+ First written ''blaque'' (1721); ''blague'' from 1826.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|nl|balg|t=sheath, pouch; skin]], with the /al/ turned into /la/ because the group /lg/ was rare in popular French.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|15/1, 34a) Rey favours Dutch over another Germanic source because the early sense “a pelican's pouch used as a bag” (1722) points to sailors.^(DHLF 1992) The Dutch word, Middle Dutch [[m|dum|balch]], is cognate with [[en|belly]], [[goh|balg]], [[non|belgr|t=skin, bag]] and [[got|𐌱𐌰𐌻𐌲𐍃|tr=balgs|t=sheath]], from [[gem-pro|*balgiz|t=bag]], properly “something swollen”.^(DHLF 1992) The GLLF instead derives it from a Dutch verb “to swell”, and says the word was first dialectal, for a bladder.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ Littré's derivation from Gaelic was a 19th-century guess.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Recorded in 1721 as ''blaque'', for the small pouch in which smokers keep their tobacco;^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Bloch and Wartburg note that it was first made from a pelican's pouch.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The sense “a made-up story told to fool or amuse people” is recorded in 1809 in army language;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) Rey explains it by the notion of something puffed up, the tobacco pouch seeming swollen with air, and compares [[bidon]].^(DHLF 1992) The Grand Robert sees it rather as a back-formation from [[blaguer]], recorded in 1808.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Balzac's novels show the word spreading among Paris office clerks, and, from there to all of society.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ It entered common phrases: ''blague à part'' (1856), the more popular ''blague dans le coin'' (1861) and the exclamation ''sans blague !'' (1870).^(DHLF 1992) In the middle of the 20th century it came to mean a careless mistake as well as a joke or prank.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1721 – ''Blaque'', a tobacco pouch.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1722 – A pelican's pouch.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1808 – The verb ''blaguer''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1809 – “A tall story”, in army slang.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1826 – The spelling ''blague''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1856 – ''Blague à part''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1870 – ''Sans blague !''^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A small [[m|en|pouch]] in which smokers keep their tobacco: ''blague à tabac''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A made-up story one tries to make people believe; a [[m|en|fib]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A [[m|en|joke]]; a [[m|en|prank]]: ''faire une sale blague à quelqu'un''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(familiar)'' A careless [[m|en|blunder]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Blague à part'', ''blague dans le coin'': joking apart, ''sans blague !'': no kidding!^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[blaguer]]

+ * [[blagueur]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}