beaucoup
English edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from French beaucoup. Popularized by the American GIs during the Vietnam War.
Pronunciation edit
Determiner edit
beaucoup
- (US, informal) Much, many, a lot of.
- You know that cost beaucoup bucks!
- 1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, 3rd section, page 282:
- 1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 93:
- Donlon says, "Well, we're rich and we got beaucoup beer and beaucoup chow. Now all we need is the Bob Hope show."
- 1987 November 2, Michael Halperin, w:Dorothy Catherine Fontana, “Lonely Among Us”, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), production code 108:
- Then he'd have to be relieved of command. Which you could do, Doctor, but it's beaucoup trouble if you're wrong.
Noun edit
beaucoup (plural beaucoups)
- An abundance.
- 1970, “Beaucoups of Blues”, in Buzz Rabin (lyrics), Beaucoups of Blues[1], performed by Ringo Starr:
- Alongside the road with holes in my soul and my shoes / And beaucoups of blues
Adverb edit
beaucoup (not comparable)
- In abundance.
French edit
Etymology edit
Inherited from Old French biau cop, first attested circa 1210.[1] Equivalent to beau (“nice, beautiful”) + coup (“hit, strike”). The latter word also means “helping of soup or beverage”, first attested circa 1375, whose sense may have triggered or reinforced beaucoup to mean “a lot”.
Pronunciation edit
Adverb edit
beaucoup
- much, very much, a lot
- Merci beaucoup! ― Thank you very much!
- Je mange beaucoup. ― I eat a lot.
Related terms edit
Descendants edit
- Louisiana Creole: boucou
- Mauritian Creole: boukou
- → English: beaucoup, boku, boocoo, bookoo, buku
- → Nigerian Pidgin: boku
See also edit
References edit
Further reading edit
- “beaucoup”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.