Che (interjection)
Template:Short description Template:Redirect Template:Redirect
Che (Template:IPAc-en; Template:IPA; Template:Langx Template:IPA; Template:Langx Template:IPA) is an interjection commonly used in Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil (São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul) and Spain (Valencia), signifying "hey!", "fellow", "guy".<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Che is mainly used as a noun of address to call someone's attention (akin to "mate!" or "buddy!" in English),<ref> Template:Cite book </ref> but it is often used as filler too (akin to "right" or "so" in English). The Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara earned his nickname from his frequent use of the expression, which amused his Cuban comrades.<ref> Template:Cite book </ref>
Etymology
Template:Lang is an interjection of unclear origin. According to the Template:Lang, it is comparable to the archaic Template:Lang used in Spain to ask for someone's attention or to make someone stop.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Lang is now mainly used in Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia and Paraguay. In Brazil, in the state of Rio Grande do Sul, the form tchê is used, and in the state of São Paulo the form ché is used.
In Spain, in the Valencia region, the form xe is used, with a similar meaning.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Due to its spread in South America, alternative etymologies have been suggested by analogy with indigenous words:
- In Tupi-Guarani,Template:Specify spoken by certain ethnic groups from Argentina to Brazil, Template:Lang means simply "I" or "my."<ref>Template:Citation</ref>Template:Better source needed
- In the native Araucanian and Chonan language families of the Southern Cone, Template:Lang means "man" or "people" and is often used as a suffix for ethnonyms in these languages (such as Mapuche, Huilliche, Tehuelche, and Puelche).<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
- In Kimbundu, spoken by Congolese slaves during colonial times, Template:Lang means "hey!", an interjection for calling someone.<ref>Template:Citation</ref>
Usage
The first recorded use of Template:Lang in Spanish America appears to be in 19th-century Argentine writer Esteban Echeverría's short story "The Slaughter Yard" ("Template:Lang"), published posthumously in 1871 but set in 1838–1839 in the Rosas era.
<poem>Template:Lang<ref>See page 225 of the first uniform edition of Echeverría's works, ed. Juan María Gutierrez, Mayo, Buenos Aires, 1874, Vol. 5, accessed 22 November 2015.</ref> ("Hey, you black witch, get out of here before I gash you," said the butcher.)</poem>
Falkland Islands
In the Falkland Islands, Template:Lang is commonly used by English speakers ("Template:Lang"). It can also be written as "Template:Lang".<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The word is sometimes used to describe someone who is a particularly traditional Falkland Islander ("Template:Lang").Template:Citation needed
Valencia
In Spain, Template:Lang is widely used in Valencia and Terres de l'Ebre, Catalonia (written as Template:Lang), as an interjection. With the spelling "Template:Lang" in Valencian, its main use is to express protest, surprise or exasperation. Template:Lang is one of the symbols of the Valencian identity to the point where, for example the Valencia CF is often referred to with the nickname "Xe Team".<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Philippines
In the Philippines, Template:Lang (also spelled Template:Lang) is used to express the dismissing another person or interrupting another person's speech, similar in context to the English expression "Shut up!".
See also
- Argot
- Cocoliche
- Lunfardo
- Re (exclamation) – a similar interjection in the Balkans of identical usage
- Vesre