# Mom petit chou you rascal you **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 9, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659 "2020-08-09T17:39:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/1 "2020-08-09T17:39:16Z")
This has to do with cabbage. It’s a mash up title of a term of endearment and an old song. So my current ear worm is _I’ll be glad when you’re dead_ ( you rascal you). Okay great song especially sung by Louis Armstrong but there’s a part where he says you asked my wife for some cabbage and you ate just like a savage I’ll be glad when you’re dead yry. Then while watching The Crown S2, Prince Philip toasts QE on her birthday with Mon petit chou. Which google is telling me means my darling cabbage. But isnt chou is a pastry? Whatever. Anyway It’s known the Duke gave his wife the nickname of cabbage. I don’t know why or what it means to be called a cabbage. Or why asking for some cabbage makes you a savage. TL;DR Is cabbage an old timey euphemism for sex? _Poll ([view on site](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/1))_ ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/2 "2020-08-09T18:09:33Z")
‘Chou’ means cabbage, and is also a term of endearment, as well as the name of a pastry. But cabbage is cash in English (cf. blé) ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/3 "2020-08-09T18:34:21Z")
The light airy pastry used in cream puffs and eclairs is _choux_ pastry (so named because the buns made from the dough when it was first introduced.resembled small cabbages). ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/4 "2020-08-09T19:03:32Z")
The thread title is too Oedipal for my tastes. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/5 "2020-08-09T20:07:25Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > But cabbage is cash in English And whose face is on all the British cabbage? ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/6 "2020-08-09T20:26:19Z")
**_Mon_ petit chou** (-fleur) ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/7 "2020-08-09T21:22:33Z")
Oops typo in the title that’s bad bad bad. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2020, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/8 "2020-08-09T21:46:14Z")
From this article at vice Green’s Dictionary of Slang [Link](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.vice.com/amp/en_us/article/j5xx44/complete-dictionary-bizarre-sex-slang) **A bit of summer cabbage (circa 1895)** “Summer cabbage” is hard to work out, I must admit. It means to have sex. “Cabbage” itself is used in slang to mean the vagina, as has the “cauliflower,” the “mushroom,” and the “artichoke.” There’s also “take a turn among the cabbages” to mean have sex. Let’s put this one down to a late Victorian slang joke. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 5:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/9 "2020-08-10T05:55:08Z")
“Mon petit chou” is a common term of affection/endearment in French, just as “sweet pea”, “cupcake”, “pumpkin” and so on are in English. As such, it obviously indicates a relationship of some intimacy, but doesn’t necessarily or exclusively mean sex, and someone who uses it isn’t necessarily saying “Get 'em off!” Sometimes, Sigmund, a cigar is just a cigar. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 7:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/10 "2020-08-10T07:42:22Z")
> _(inquit Nonno)_ > > > The devil was as angry as the devil himself. > > Messieurs les Balgentiens, he shouted across the bridge, vous n’êtes pas de belles gens du tout ! Vous n’êtes que des chats ! And he said to the cat: Viens ici, mon petit chat ! Tu as peur, mon petit chou-chat ? Tu as froid, mon pau petit chou-chat ? Viens ici, le diable t’emporte ! On va se chauffer tous les deux. > > And off he went with the cat. ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/11 "2020-08-10T16:27:01Z")
I have heard (but not from someone who speaks french) that “Mon petite chou-chou” is an endearment partly because it looks like you’re blowing kisses when you say chou-chou ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/12 "2020-08-10T16:59:17Z")
I believe in the song “asking my wife for some cabbage” is asking for sex ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/13 "2020-08-10T17:29:44Z")
I sometimes wonder whether Victorians ever got laid at all, given how creative they got with their produce. I mean, how long of a dry spell does it have to be before you consider an artichoke. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 10, 2020, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/14 "2020-08-10T21:58:40Z")
In the 1965 episode “Anthony Stone” of _The Dick Van Dyke Show_, Sally’s mysterious boyfriend calls her “mon petit chou.” Buddy asks what it means, and Rob gives an explanation very similar to **PatrickLondon.** Rob is very suspicious though, because, you know, it’s French, and seems to imply a level of intimacy Sally didn’t have with, say, Herman Glimscher. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/15 "2020-08-11T06:03:24Z")
I heard a woman call someone (boyfriend?) on the phone, ‘mon coco’ ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/16 "2020-08-11T13:34:51Z")
Sometimes all it takes is macaroni in a pot 🤔🤪😝 ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/17 "2020-08-11T13:46:23Z")
Don’t you risk 2nd degree burns? ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/18 "2020-08-11T20:54:46Z")
Not if it’s wet and gushy the noodles absorb the extra heat, rug burns maybe ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/19 "2020-08-11T20:56:18Z")
Sounds like you’ve taken every precaution. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [August 11, 2020, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mom-petit-chou-you-rascal-you/917659/20 "2020-08-11T20:57:47Z")
What happens in the cabbage patch is for the stork to know.