Talk:bijou problemette

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Latest comment: 10 years ago by This, that and the other in topic bijou problemette
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bijou problemette

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Can't find cites for it. Also, the etymology is unimpressive: "bijou" seems not to mean "small, little" in French. This, that and the other (talk) 00:53, 4 February 2014 (UTC)Reply

(Needless to say, I didn't send it to RFV because of the etymology. I brought it here to see if it can be cited.) This, that and the other (talk) 00:56, 4 February 2014 (UTC)Reply
Could probably squeak through with Usenet posts [1]. Sorry, haven't got time right now, since Google Groups is barely usable for me any more. Equinox 01:16, 4 February 2014 (UTC)Reply
Ah yes, seems to be a UK regionalism. This, that and the other (talk) 06:12, 4 February 2014 (UTC)Reply
Cited. My guess is that this is from the English bijou (itself a borrowing from French), specifically the sense "(of a residence) small and elegant", plus problem with the suffix -ette attached. -Cloudcuckoolander (talk) 07:00, 4 February 2014 (UTC)Reply
According to this discussion, real estate agents use bijou and the suffix -ette as euphemistic language to describe small properties, and bijou promblemette arose as a spoof of this practice. -Cloudcuckoolander (talk) 07:12, 4 February 2014 (UTC)Reply
Could be. It sounded a lot like it might have come from a TV show, something like Blackadder or Red Dwarf (I can imagine Arnold Rimmer saying it), but all I could turn up was your estate-agent discussion above. Equinox 07:14, 4 February 2014 (UTC)Reply
Thanks! Struck. This, that and the other (talk) 00:28, 5 February 2014 (UTC)Reply