la-la | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

146 entries found.

"ordered by separate items" (itemized on a bill); distinguished from a table d'hôte, indicating a meal served at a fixed, inclusive price; 1826, from French à la carte, literally "by the card" (see a la + card (n.1)).

cherchez la femme

French, literally "seek the woman," on the notion that a woman is the cause for whatever crime has been committed, first used by Alexandre Dumas père in "Les Mohicans de Paris" (1864) in the form cherchons la femme. French chercher is from Latin circare, in Late Latin "to wander hither and thither," from circus "circle" (see circus).

La-Z-Boy

brand of recliner chair, 1929, Floral City Furniture Co., Monroe, Michigan, U.S. According to company lore, chosen from names submitted in a contest. See lazy + boy.

hasta la vista

Spanish, literally "until the meeting (again)," salutation in parting.

la-di-da (interj.)

mocking affected gentility, 1874, a derisive imitation of the "swell" way of talking. Compare lardy-dardy (1859).

creme de la creme (n.)

"elite, finest flower of society," 1848, from French crème de la crème, literally "the cream of the cream" (see cream (n.)).

ooh (interj.)

exclamation of pain, surprise, wonder, etc., attested by 1916. The number of -o-s may vary. Combined with aah from 1953. Ooh-la-la, exclamation of surprise or appreciation, is attested by 1918, from French ô là! là! and suggestive of the supposed raciness of the French.

France is one fine country and we have been having a pretty good time. The people treat the Americans very well and the pretty girls,—'ooh, la, la!", as they say. ["The Princeton Alumni Weekly," May 29, 1918]

hoopla

also hoop-la, 1877, hoop la, American English, earlier houp-la, exclamation accompanying quick movement (1870), of unknown origin, perhaps borrowed from French houp-là "upsy-daisy," also a cry to dogs, horses, etc. (see whoop).

polka (n.)

kind of lively round-dance which originated in Bohemia, 1844, from French polka, German Polka, probably from Czech polka, the dance, literally "Polish woman" (Polish Polka), fem. of Polak "a Pole" (see Pole). The word might also be an alteration of Czech pulka "half," for the half-steps of Bohemian peasant dances. Or it could be a merger of the two. The dance was in vogue first in Prague, 1835; it reached London by the spring of 1842.

Vous n'en êtes encore qu'au galop, vieil arriéré, et nous en sommes à la polka! Oui, c'est la polka que nous avons dansée à ce fameux bal Valentino. Vous demandez ce que c'est que la polka, homme de l année dernière! La contredanse a vécu; le galop, rococo; la valse à deux temps, dans le troisième dessous; il n'y a plus que la polka, la sublime, l'enivrante polka, dont les salons raffolent, que les femmes de la haute, les banquiéres les plus cossues et les comtesses les plus choenosophoses étudient jour et nuit. ["La France Dramatique," Paris, 1841]

As a verb by 1846 (polk also was tried).

lavalier (n.)

kind of ornament that hangs around the neck, 1873, from French lavallière, a kind of tie, after Louise Françoise de La Baume Le Blanc de La Vallière, Duchesse de La Vallière (1644-1710), mistress of Louis XIV from 1661-1667.

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