Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Reduplicative Toasting


Let's drink to that...twice.

Everyone grows up with particular words and phrases that are not necessarily common to the masses. I have a dear friend, who uses the expression "chin-chin" as a toast whenever we get together to catch up.

I was not familiar with this phrase and never gave it much though. I attributed it to the wonderful lingo this friend has shared with me that I assumed was part of her idiolect; she often uses unusual words and expressions that she credits to her father.

I just recently learned that it is an interjection from the Chinese language.

Origin: 1785–95; < Chinese qǐng-qǐng please-please

So let's have a toast to Mexico for tomorrow's holiday...Chin-chin.



14 comments:

mandarinis said...

We say it too in Buenos Aires, didn't know the meaning of it... I thought it was some sort or onomatopoeia.. hehe
Now, why do we use a chinese expression when toasting? That's odd...!

Inma Domínguez said...

It's very usual in Spain to use this expression as a toast, but I always thought it was onomatopoeic. I looked it up in the RAE dictionary and it says it's an English word that originally comes from Chinese, like you said, Laura. Thanks for the information, and congratulations for your excellent blog!

Laura Payne said...

Thank you Inma. I enjoy your blog too.

liz.nicole said...

It's the common tost in Italian as well. Now I'm curious how it got there!

Laura Payne said...

I am guessing its onomatopoeic-nature lends itself to borrowing.

Jamie said...

But be careful, because in Japanese chin-chin means "willy" (as in a childish word for penis)!

Laura Payne said...

Jamie - Thanks for the warning.

mandarinis said...

Oh my... guess i'm not saying chin chin anymore.. thank for the warning!

Licia said...

Also in Italy we say cin cin.
According to the Treccani Italian dictionary, the pidgin English expression became popular in Europe thanks to The Geisha, an operetta by Sidney Jones first performed in London in 1896. Its most successful song was Chin Chin Chinaman.

Laura Payne said...

Licia - Is that pronounced as /s/ or /k/?

Licia said...

Same pronunciation as in English!

Italian spelling is extremely easy but there are a few features that non-Italians find quite confusing: "ci" followed by a, o or u equals to English (and Spanish) "ch", e.g. my name is /'li:tʃa/ and the most common Italian greeting, ciao, is /tʃao/, but "che" and "chi" are pronounced /ke/ (also /kɛ/) and /ki/.

Licia said...

Sorry, I forgot to add that in Italian "ci" and "ce" at the end of a word, on their own, or followed by consonants are pronounced /ʧi/ and /ʧe/ (also /ʧɛ/)

mandarinis said...

As in CHair :)

The CA, CE, CI, CO, CU, CIA, CIE, CIO, CIU thing (and the same but with a G instead of a C) in italian is a bit "strange"...

A similar thing happens in spanish.... CA CE CI CO CU GA GE GI GO GU... those are "strange" but in a diff way.

Laura Payne said...

/ʧirz/

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