"che"

[malbec]

I read somewhere that 'che' means people, that's why it is found in Mapuche, Tehuelche, etc

 

[JoseLuis]

EtymologyThe exact origin of che is unclear, and possibly derived from several indigenous South American languages:

• In Guaraní che means simply "I" or "my".[1]

• In Tehuelche and Puelche che means "man".[1]
• In Mapudungun che means "people".

Other linguists theorize that the word che is derived from the archaic Spanish word ce, used to call someone's attention. Another theory connects it with the Italian greeting "ciao", or word "cioe", meaning "that is". Che could also be a shortened version of the word "escuche" meaning "listen" and used to capture attention, similar to "oye", which also implies "listen", in other Spanish speaking countries.

Che (pronounced [ˈtʃe]) is a Spanish diminutive interjection (a vocative expression) commonly used in Argentina. A form of colloquial slang used in a vocative sense as "friend", and thus loosely corresponds to expressions such as "mate", "pal", "man", "bro", or "dude"; as used by various English speakers. As a result, it may be used both before or after a phrase: "Man, this is some good beer", or "Let's go get a beer, bro." It can be added to an explicit vocative to call the attention, playing the role of "Hey", for instance: "Che Pedro, mirá!", "Hey, Pedro, look!".

(wiki)

 

[katti]

In Flemish (not in dutch) we have the same 'word', we say "e", in the exact same situations as here they say "che". We only use it for friends otherwise it is considered impolite. It has no meaning but in fact it means to get the attention of your friend, even if you are in the middle of conversation. mostly, when it is in the middle of a conversation, you are bringing up another topic or a question related or not to the conversation you were having.

 

[mini]

I was, you silly tyrant.

(Sid Caesar never really spoke French, either.)

Oh, you were kidding? Sorry. I didn't get that....

 

[billsfan]

It definitely comes from the guarani "che", which means "my".
That was several times explained by famous people like Luis Landriscina (humorist) and many others not born in Buenos Aires (the problem with porteños is that they hardly acknowledge anything or anyone outside of their city).

If you knew provinces like Corrientes, Chaco, Formosa or Misiones (and obviously Paraguay), you would know that they still speak in guarani. And from there we have common mixed phrases like:
"Che amigo" (abbreviated as "chamigo") which translates to "My friend"
"Che señor" which would be "My boss/employer"
"Che roga" (here both in guarani) which is "My house"
And in general, you could add any name after "che".
That influence came from the north, down thru Santa Fe, and to the rest of the country.

Porteños would say "che" comes from Europe. But only if they are pretentious. They would like everything to come from Europe and forget about their roots.

 

[fedecc]

I agree. Just yesterday i was re reading "El matadero" (a short story from 1837), and noticed they indeed said "che" back then which makes the european theory unlikely.

 

[jazrgz]

Here´s the wikipedia explanation of the origins and uses of "Che", it´s in spanish but basically it says that there´s really no way to tell were it comes from since there´s similar words/expressions both in europe (Valencia, Spain) but also in different indian tribes:
http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Che

Also, if you ask any porteño he will most likely say he has no idea where it comes from but yes, if they have to guess they would say europe since indeed that´s our root for pretty much all of us (not just porteños but argentinos in general) and there´s nothing pretencious about it btw, it just a simple fact ! And those who also have indian roots (many of us as well..hence, beautifull morochas walking around everywhere hehehe), far from being ashamed they are very proud of it and would not be looked down on (of course, there´s always exceptions to the rule)

-Juan

 

[SaraSara]

Threads like this are the reason I find the forum so interesting. I never thought about the word "che" before - it was always there, even when frowned upon by the "educated" classes. (Just like "chau", which has become accepted of late).

Traditional Arg. offices used to have a "ChePibe", an employee always ready to run all sorts of errands and do odd jobs. Sadly, the breed has all but disappeared.

 

[ghost]

as in CheCristina?

 

[HowardinBA]

Threads like this are the reason I find the forum so interesting. I never thought about the word "che" before - it was always there, even when frowned upon by the "educated" classes. (Just like "chau", which has become accepted of late).

Traditional Arg. offices used to have a "ChePibe", an employee always ready to run all sorts of errands and do odd jobs. Sadly, the breed has all but disappeared.

Hi Sara,yes that was why I started this thread,I too was, and still am,fascinated by it,s meaning..