chenapan
French edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from German Schnapphahn.
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
chenapan m (plural chenapans, feminine chenapane)
- scamp, rascal, rogue, scoundrel
- 1921, Louis Pergaud, Le Sermon difficile, dans Les Rustiques, nouvelles villageoises:
- Pourtant la chose en soi était grave ; ce n’est pas tout que de dire : vos filles sont des dévergondées et vos garçons des chenapans ; mais... il n’y aurait pas que des vieillards et des adultes à l’église, il y aurait aussi des enfants.
- Yet the matter in itself was serious: it would not be enough to say, "Your daughters are hussies and your sons are rascals", but... there would not only be adults and old people in the church; there would also be children.
- a naughty child, scamp, little rascal
Descendants edit
- → Romanian: șnapan
Further reading edit
- “chenapan”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.