"che"

You know - that's a really interesting question. I don't know where "che" comes from. I'm assuming lunfardo but I don't know. Hmm.. off to investigate.
 
Simply put, nobody knows. There are several theories though, that it comes from the guaraní, from the tehuelche/mapuche, or that it is some sort of deformation of an immigrants language (italians most likely).

The key is, in my opinion, finding out at least the oldest (local) written registry of the word available. If the use of the word goes back to colonial times then probably the guaraní theory is correct (che is also widely used in Paraguay and parts of southern Brasil). On the other hand, if the record goes back to the late XIX-early XX century, then the immigrant theory is more accurate.

In other words, i dont know.
 
If you have seen the movie "Pal Joey" with Frank Sinatra you would also have seen that the nightclub in the film was named "Chez Joey."

Che in Spanish simply means pal or buddy...and perhaps even bro.

(Chez is the French version of the term.)
 
steveinbsas said:
If you have seen the movie "Pal Joey" with Frank Sinatra you would also have seen that the nightclub in the film was named "Chez Joey."

Che in Spanish simply means pal or buddy...and perhaps even bro.

(Chez is the French version of the term.)

Chez is not the French version of "che". Chez means someone's "home" or "place". Chez Joey would be like "Lo de Joey", or Joey's Place.
 
Pardon my French.

It's even worse than my Spanish, as mini has previously noted.

(I learned it from Sid Caesar.)

I'd rather be wrong than overweight, but now I'm both.
 
steveinbsas said:
Pardon my French.

It's even worse than my Spanish, as mini has previously noted.

(I learned it from Sid Caesar.)

I'd rather be wrong than overweight, but now I'm both.
I totally thought you were kidding.

:eek:
 
The version I was told : Che is the word for people in Mapuche (also present in Tehuelche, another tribe in the same zone of the country).
 
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