Talk:merci
Merci in French doesn't relly translate into mercy in English[edit]
Merci in modern language almost only means thank you.
In old language, it can be used in a sentense like "Il etait a la merci de l'autre", where "Il" depend on "l'autre" to survive.
I don't have the knowledge to change the article and don't know a word in English that can be used as a direct translation. --Cqui 19:02, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
- See the definition on French Wiktionary. I have added (deprecated template usage) grace. SemperBlotto 19:06, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
- I think pitié would be 'Contemporary French' for mercy, but merci, as stated above, is a date/obsolete synonym. Mglovesfun (talk) 19:55, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
Part of speech[edit]
Why is the second part of speech header "noun", but the context given is "interjection"? Something looks wrong here. --EncycloPetey 20:21, 20 November 2010 (UTC)
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See Wiktionary:Requests_for_deletion#merci. There is no question merci exists, but does it exist as an interjection used in English? This is what I said in the RfD: "I think (which is the most unreliable source around here) I heard Alan on Two and a Half Men say it as a genuine way to say "thank you". But I can't find it in the subtitles, other than the fourth episode of season four which is not what I meant. So either my memory is not right, the subtitles skipped over the interjection or they translated it. I guess "merci" in English would never be written, it would only be used in speech. And because it's an interjection in a foreign language it will often not be a part of subtitles. So your best bet is probably to search transcripts. Which is what I've done. (merci site:springfieldspringfield.co.uk) And I still haven't been able to come up with anything. Every time somebody says it it's either a Frenchman (Superman 2), the character speaking to a Frenchman, the character speaking French or the character talking about France. In Dutch it's just an extra-polite way of saying "thank you" but in English I can't find any source for that. Maybe https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Harry_Potter_and_the_Goblet_of_Fire_(film) but I don't know what the context really is there. So I would lean towards removing the English entry for merci, unless someone else actually does have a source."
This doesn't seem like RfD material but RfV instead, so here we are. W3ird N3rd (talk) 11:57, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
It is always tricky with foreign borrowings like this. I have ruled out everything I found that is italicized or in scare quotes, plus the uses in some places where the person speaking is French, with the exception of one quote from Quebec, which is bilingual, and therefor the use in an English sentence seems to make it legit. I managed to find three, which I added. So this is cited. (There is also the use in the phrase merci buckets, which is clearly English. (Oh yes, I also added a second meaning, which is definitely English, which has to do with card games. As I have played games with a merci, I don't think that one should be controversial. Kiwima (talk) 21:08, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
RFV-passed Kiwima (talk) 00:16, 15 August 2017 (UTC)
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"(French, colloquial) thank you". Yes, it's actually glossed as French. I think we had a similar case with Russian da or nyet once. The fact that French may jokingly be used in English doesn't make French words English words. Equinox ◑ 12:09, 15 April 2017 (UTC)
- There is voilà and bon appétit, among many others, so why not this one?Julien Daux (talk) 14:56, 15 April 2017 (UTC)
- The fact that it's glossed as French as stated. An alternative option would be merely to remove that gloss and say "okay, merci is English". Equinox ◑ 15:03, 15 April 2017 (UTC)
- I removed the gloss. Now why exactly is this at RFD? It's certainly attested. PseudoSkull (talk) 15:42, 15 April 2017 (UTC)
- Keep. Plenty of alien interjections already have entries, like gracias, arrivederci, ciao, oui, shalom & similar. — (((Romanophile))) ♞ (contributions) 04:25, 5 May 2017 (UTC)
- Keep if attested in unambiguously English sources. Andrew Sheedy (talk) 04:31, 5 May 2017 (UTC)
- I think (which is the most unreliable source around here) I heard Alan on Two and a Half Men say it as a genuine way to say "thank you". But I can't find it in the subtitles, other than the fourth episode of season four which is not what I meant. So either my memory is not right, the subtitles skipped over the interjection or they translated it. I guess "merci" in English would never be written, it would only be used in speech. And because it's an interjection in a foreign language it will often not be a part of subtitles. So your best bet is probably to search transcripts. Which is what I've done. (merci site:springfieldspringfield.co.uk) And I still haven't been able to come up with anything. Every time somebody says it it's either a Frenchman (Superman 2), the character speaking to a Frenchman, the character speaking French or the character talking about France. In Dutch it's just an extra-polite way of saying "thank you" but in English I can't find any source for that. Maybe [1] but I don't know what the context really is there. So I would lean towards removing the English entry for merci, unless someone else actually does have a source. W3ird N3rd (talk) 16:12, 4 August 2017 (UTC)
- Wiktionary:Requests_for_verification/English#merci W3ird N3rd (talk) 11:58, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
- Keep. User:Kiwima provided citations. W3ird N3rd (talk) 22:59, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
- Keep. I don't see an RFD-relevant reason for deleting. —Granger (talk · contribs) 23:28, 7 August 2017 (UTC)
- RFD kept per consensus. --Dan Polansky (talk) 11:12, 20 August 2017 (UTC)