persiflage

See also: Persiflage

English

WOTD – 14 April 2008

Etymology

From French persiflage, from persifler (“to quiz, tease, mock”), from per- + siffler (“to whistle”), from Latin sībilō (“whistle”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈpɜː.sɪ.flɑːʒ/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈpɝː.sɪ.flɑːʒ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Noun

persiflage (countable and uncountable, plural persiflages)

1. Good-natured banter; raillery.

   After the third strike he returned to the bench to face the inevitable persiflage from his teammates.

   • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], chapter XVIII, in Romance and Reality. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC, page 208:

     No one can deny Lady Charlotte Bury's assertion, that no well-regulated young female will ever indulge in a species of amusement so improper as flirtation; but it must be admitted, that having a pleasant partner is preferable to not dancing, and that a little persiflage, a little raillery, a little flattery, go far to make a partner pleasant.

2. Frivolous, lighthearted discussion of a topic.

   Polite dinner calls for persiflage rather than in-depth possibly offensive discussion.

Synonyms

• (good-natured banter): banter, raillery

Translations

good-natured banter; raillery

• Bulgarian: закачки (bg) f pl (zakački)
• French: badinerie (fr) f, persiflage (fr) m, plaisanterie (fr) m
• German: Persiflage (de) f
• Hungarian: csipkelődés (hu), élcelődés (hu), ugratás (hu)
• Russian: подшу́чивание (ru) n (podšúčivanije)

frivolous, lighthearted discussion of a topic

• Hungarian: persziflázs (hu)

Anagrams

• pilferages

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from French persiflage.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˌpɛr.siˈflaː.ʒə/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: per‧si‧fla‧ge
• Rhymes: -aːʒə

Noun

persiflage m (plural persiflages)

1. Lighthearted caricature or mockery, as in a comedy sketch.
2. (archaic) Ridiculing mispresenting or misconstruing.

Related terms

• persifleren

 

French

Alternative forms

• persifflage (1990 spelling)

Etymology

From persifler +‎ -age.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /pɛʁ.si.flaʒ/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

persiflage m (plural persiflages)

1. ridicule or malicious mockery made under the guise of good-natured raillery

Descendants

• → Dutch: persiflage
• → English: persiflage
• → German: Persiflage
• → Polish: persyflaż
• → Swedish: persiflage

Further reading

• “persiflage”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.