Say Chic by Francoise Blanchard & Jeremy Leven

Author:Francoise Blanchard & Jeremy Leven
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Scribner
Published: 2004-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Gauche /

gaucherie

[ g sh / g sh uh ree ]

The origin of gauche possibly lies in the verb gauchir (“to bend,” “to deform,” or “to distort”), which comes from the Old French guenchir (“to make diversions”). It was long believed that left-handers, called gauchers in French, suffered from an unfortunate abnormality. The fact that gauche has been used to describe a socially clumsy action, conduct, or remark lacking tact and grace certainly didn’t help their cause.

The word arrived into English during the mid-nineteenth century with its French meaning, and has since been employed as a synonym for “unpolished,” when talking about a style or technique. From gauche naturally derived gaucherie, first recorded in French in the eighteenth century. The term, referring to awkward behavior or a blunder that betrays one’s maladroitness, also included the sense of timidity.

We will leave it to the reader to explore which nationalities, when visiting Paris, for example, are seen by the good citizens of France to behave in a manner consistently gauche, being insufferably loud and poorly mannered, a deficiency attributed almost entirely to their tragic misfortune of not being French.

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