parleyvoo
English edit
Etymology edit
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
parleyvoo (countable and uncountable, plural parleyvoos)
- The French language, especially as understood by an English person. [from 18th c.]
- 1922 February, James Joyce, Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC:
- Lynch. Let him alone. He's back from Paris […] Zoe. O go on! Give us some parleyvoo.
- (countable, now rare) A French person. [from 18th c.]
- 1789, John Moore, Zeluco, Valancourt, published 2008, page 276:
- [O]ne of these d—d Parlivoos will go farther with some women in a day, than an Englishman in a month—all owing to their impudence; for a common man has as much impudence in France as a man-midwife has in England.
- 1887, Gilbert and Sullivan, “Ruddigore”, in Delphi Complete Works of Gilbert and Sullivan (Illustrated), published 2017, →ISBN:
- We were hardy British tars who had pity on a poor Parley-voo
Verb edit
parleyvoo (third-person singular simple present parleyvoos, present participle parleyvooing, simple past and past participle parleyvooed)