# Help me with a word I can't even spell **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 28, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200 "2017-03-28T05:15:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/1 "2017-03-28T05:15:13Z")
Somehow in the last say, two weeks, on two different sitcoms – Cheers and something else, a pretentious female character used the same mystery word. It sounds like they’re saying “bwat” ( but with a bit of an H sound thrown in there ) and it has something to do with a restaurant. In context it sounds like it means bistro or café. “Oh, a few churms and I were out exploring among the demimonde when we stumbled across the most charming bwat where we shared a saucy little Pouilly-Fuissé and mille-feuille” I’m obviously totally off on the spelling since I can’t find any word even close to “bw(h)at” and I’m not finding it in any online in any thesaurus I’ve looked at. Can anyone give me a hand with the correct spelling and or definition please? ---
**Author:** ![Interrobang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/interrobang/32/17463_2.png) [@Interrobang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Interrobang)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/2 "2017-03-28T05:19:10Z")
**boîte** —Basically a small restaurant. Spelling is definitely tricky, but there are entries at [Merriam-Webster](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bo%C3%AEte) and [Dictionary.com](http://www.dictionary.com/browse/boite). ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/3 "2017-03-28T06:04:45Z")
It’s from the French. It literally means “box”. In full, _boîte de nuit_, a smallish nightclub or a small restaurant that serves late into the night. ---
**Author:** ![Fenris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fenris/32/498_2.png) [@Fenris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fenris)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 9:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/5 "2017-03-28T09:46:44Z")
Thank you both. I would never have gotten it. I was fixated on the "W "sound 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Isilder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/cc9497/32.png) [@Isilder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isilder)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/6 "2017-03-28T11:30:56Z")
Its referring to the same sort of place as a “joint” when joint is referring to a cafe restaurant type place… Some walls and a roof thrown up beside or between proper buildings The boise is a box construction attached to a proper building like an office block, museum, train station, that sort of thing. The limitted size can be a plus , because the staff are not too busy , and the menu short, they can make the meal to the best of their ability. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/7 "2017-03-28T16:27:19Z")
FYI, “boite” is acceptable in Scrabble. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/8 "2017-03-28T17:06:04Z")
I’m just thinking it has an interesting rhyme, useful in some limerick. ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/9 "2017-03-28T18:58:24Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’m just thinking it has an interesting rhyme, useful in some limerick. Kumquat? Spot? Not? Thought? Brought? ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/10 "2017-03-28T19:14:04Z")
Fraught? Blot? Ikat? Forget-me-not? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/11 "2017-03-28T19:24:10Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’m just thinking it has an interesting rhyme, useful in some limerick. Twat. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/12 "2017-03-28T21:25:19Z")
So I went to this small, charming boite; The dressing had “secret” ergot. I was with child– My uterus went wild, And passed 8 pounds right through my twat. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/13 "2017-03-28T22:56:45Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > So I went to this small, charming boite; > The dressing had “secret” ergot. > I was with child– > My uterus went wild, > And passed 8 pounds right through my twat. That’s like… almost clean. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2017, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/14 "2017-03-28T23:00:14Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > That’s like… almost clean. I’ll have you know, the original Limericks _were_ clean. Also kinda boring. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/15 "2017-03-29T02:03:11Z")
The Akhond of Swat would like this word… A LWAT. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/16 "2017-03-29T02:54:31Z")
The Babe, or the Sultan of Swat, Once entered a cute little boite. It was open and shut; He was out on his butt, He tried to order a braut. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/17 "2017-03-29T21:53:48Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > So I went to this small, charming boite; > The dressing had “secret” ergot. > I was with child– > My uterus went wild, > And passed 8 pounds right through my twat. Thanks! I would have pronounced that “ergoh” and been mortified. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2017, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/18 "2017-03-29T22:47:47Z")
> [@gigi](#): > > Thanks! I would have pronounced that “ergoh” and been mortified. Well, it is of Old French origin, but I think it came to English before there was American English, and the Brits either spell the work like it sounds, or pronounce the T, like in “filet,” which in England if “FILL-it.” ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/19 "2017-03-30T01:35:30Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > Well, it is of Old French origin, but I think it came to English before there was American English, and the Brits either spell the work like it sounds, or pronounce the T, like in “filet,” which in England if “FILL-it.” The cut of meat is not only pronounced “fillet” in English, but is spelled that way too. “Filet” is only found in French phrases, e.g. _filet de boeuf_, (in which case it’s given something approximating to the French pronunciation) and on McDonald’s menus (in which case, I’m guessing, it’s given the American pronunciation). ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2017, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-a-word-i-cant-even-spell/783200/20 "2017-03-30T03:44:44Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > The cut of meat is not only pronounced “fillet” in English, but is spelled that way too. “Filet” is only found in French phrases, e.g. _filet de boeuf_, (in which case it’s given something approximating to the French pronunciation) and on McDonald’s menus (in which case, I’m guessing, it’s given the American pronunciation). The American pronunciation makes me laugh, because it has a past tense, “fileted,” pronounced “filayed.”