I come from a Franco-American family, and there was a lot of French spoken in my family when I was young. I spoke it too(have it on tape, even) until my parents decided it was wiser not to encourage me to learn French, because little pitchers have big ears, and it’s handy to be able to speak freely in a language your kid doesn’t understand.
Anyway, my grandfather died when I was 3, but I have a few memories of him, and one is that he always called me “bibbit”, which was explained to me as meaning “little bug”. I’ve looked in some french-english dictionaries, but I guess it’s either some kind of slang, I have the spelling all wrong, or I’ve been taken.
So, is there really such a word, and is that what it actually means?
It’s almost impossible since French doesn’t have an equivalent for the English short-i, which I assume is what you’re describing in “bibbit”. The closest sound would be almost equal to the English “ee”. Did it sound more like “beebeet”? In any case, if it’s anything close to “bibit”, it’s probably from the Latin for “drinks”.
Sorry for the double post, my edit window expired.
Bibite is also spelled sometimes bebite.
I couldn’t find any etymological info on the word. I think it might possibly be related to the word bête (beast). Repeating the first syllable of a word is used to give a lighter, not very serious, tone in slang. Be-bête, fo-folle, jojo (from joyeux) are examples of this.
Thanks! I had assumed it must be some odd franco thing. I have a bunch of other “french” words in my vocabulary that may or may not be standard french, as well. “Pitons” for buttons, “pishoos” for slippers, “fesses” for… well, your butt.
I have no idea WHY the term bibite was applied to me, unless it’s the “cute as a bug” thing AskNott mentioned, or maybe it’s similarity to the word bebe, which bordelond pointed out. My actual name is Donna Jean, so nothing there.
Don’t know about that one. Slippers would be “pantoufles” for indoor slippers, and “sandales” for outdoor or beach slippers. In some Canadian dialects you could also use “gougounes” for beach slippers. “Pichou” is a word (a Canadian word, I believe, but very uncommon today) that means “lynx” but is also used in the sense of “ugly”.
That one is used everywhere people speak French. “Fesse” means “buttock”.
I don’t know, but “bibite” does seem like the kind of endearing term I would see a grandfather use for a very young girl. I think it’s mostly due to the “small” connotation. jovan suggested that maybe “bibite” comes from “bête” and he may very well be right; compare with “bébête”, which means “a little dumb”, a diminutive of “bête” in the sense of “not very bright”.
“Bibite” is definitely pronounced with short vowels, similar to the English short i, but maybe moving towards a schwa in some dialects (see jovan’s alternative spelling – and pronounciation – of “bebite”). I don’t know why you say this sound doesn’t exist in French, it seems quite common to me.
Many of these words – bibbit (bug) pichou (slipper) etc. are commonly used by people of French heritage in Lewiston Maine. I’m not French, but I pay attention…
Could it be “bêbête” (petite bête/little animal)? That could apply to a bug (or equally a mouse, etc…).
That’s not used in ordinary speech, but can be when speaking to a little kid “Regarde la bêbête!” “Oh, elle t’a mordu, la vilaine bêbête?” (look at the little animal/ The bad little animal just bit you?). Seems fitting to me.
ETA : “bêbête” could be used too to mean “a bit simple-minded”
Yes, check jovan’s [post=8783608]post[/post] of nearly three years ago. That’s a likely etymology for bibite which is how it’s pronounced in Canadian French dialects.
I just want to point out that French tends to have closer vowels. The French /e/ can sound to some people like the English /ɪ/, especially in certain dialects of either.
