30 March 2012

Usage you can use: Voilà

Most everyone uses "voilà" [vwa la] at some point in her life. This is likely because voilà [vwa la] is a French word. We Americans like borrowing things from the French. They are just so fashionable.

Voilà [vwa la] has all the expected subtleties in its native form, but we barking Anglophones tend to use it to mean, "Ta da!" This is a fine usage, given that voilà [vwa la] could be translated to mean, "lookit!" or, "here it is!" So carry on, friends. Carry on.

But do not ever spell it "walla" or I will laugh at you.

10 comments:

Cheryl said...

Looking for the like button . . . .

Rebekah said...

People really do that?

Cathy said...

Thank you. Touche immediately came to mind, but how do you type the accent mark? I don't want anyone to think I'm calling you touchy.

Dawn said...

:D

Is there anything people won't do? The precious lambs.

Christina Joy said...

When my sister and I were young teens my Mom once promised us a pop from the vending machine if we could figure out how to spell "walla" by the time she got out of the grocery store.

I still long for that Diet Coke.

Anonymous said...

I intentionally say "et viola" pronounced as

et = hick's paste tense of eat

viola = cousin to violin

and I have yet to be called on it. Picked it up from somewhere, forget where.

Gayle Wilson said...

My pet peeve is forte. Only a hickish Canadian should be able to say fort-eh. Or a musician.

Dawn said...

Christina: Your mother ROCKS.

Anon: I call you on it. I CALL YOU.

Gayle Wilson said...

My pet peeve is forte. Only cranky canadians and musicians can say fort-eh.

Dawn said...

Gayle: :D I once had the pleasure of viewing a play wherein the actors repeatedly pronounced "forte" the way it is supposed to be pronounced. Hearing it was like breathing pure oxygen.