gâgher ?

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on December 17, 2014 at 6:25pm

Should it be "gâcher " ?

That means "to spoil" or "to waste" .

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Permalink Reply by Dwayne Roberts on December 17, 2014 at 6:49pm

I was guessing "gagner".  Here are some more sentences that appear via Google:

"Tu peut poster tant que tu veux, mais le seul problème c´est que tu viens PARFOIS gâgher notre plaisir de dicuter, c´est tout..."

"Le Sénat tâcha de gâgher quelqu'un des Tribuns, qui pair s'oposer à cette fijreur d'un de ses collègues"

"Ne vous contentez pas de gâgher ainsi vos compatriotes"

"Comme tu dis, il va finir par tout gâgher"

"je n'ai pas envie de gâgher trop de papier alors si cela ne correspond pas à ce que j'attends"

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on December 17, 2014 at 11:28pm

Oh I see that it is from old 18th century writing (and Quebecquois , I am guessing?)

In that case , it seems that it would be a correct spelling but I would not have come across it.

I can't decide from the different contexts you have given of its use if the meaning would equate to "gagner" or gâcher or even "gâter " but there would be quite a difference in meaning.

To my ears it sounds closer to "gâcher " than "gagner" and the context of "gâgher trop de papier" makes me lean towards "waste" as in "wasting paper"

Is there not a dictionary with all the French words for that period either for sale as a book or available online?

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Permalink Reply by Charles D on December 18, 2014 at 5:23am

In keeping with George's idea of a connection to "waste" (That can waste a good breakfast) how about "ruin"?  'That can ruin a good breakfast.'  I am only guessing, of course, from the context of the sentence.

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EducatorPermalink Reply by George Hunt on December 18, 2014 at 12:25pm

There is no doubt in my mind that that is what it means  -but there are very few instances to be found on google and so it  could   just  be a typo for  "gâcher" ....

I make that kind of a mistake all the time as my eyesight is not 100% and the "c" and the "g" and pretty close together on the keyboard.

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Permalink Reply by Dwayne Roberts on December 19, 2014 at 1:55pm

More context :
The publisher is Dargaud Éditeur, printed in France. A book of illustrated philosophy.

Lucy [to Snoopy] : Tu penses pouvoir te réveiller chaque matin avec le sourire aux lèvres... Mais ça ne suffit pas ! Tu dois commencer chaque journée avec une chanson au coeur, une lueur dans l'oeil, et la paix dans l'âme !
Snoopy thinks : Ça peut gâgher un bon petit déjeuner.

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on December 20, 2014 at 9:25am

Hello,

I never heard or saw this word "gâgher" before.

And ... a "H" after a "G" in a French word is not usual.

And these sentences :

"Tu peut poster tant que tu veux, mais le seul problème c´est que tu viens PARFOIS gâgher notre plaisir de dicuter, c´est tout..."

"Le Sénat tâcha de gâgher quelqu'un des Tribuns, qui pair s'oposer à cette fijreur d'un de ses collègues"

"Ne vous contentez pas de gâgher ainsi vos compatriotes"

"Comme tu dis, il va finir par tout gâgher"

"je n'ai pas envie de gâgher trop de papier alors si cela ne correspond pas à ce que j'attends"

are mixed with many wrong words ( fijreur, qui pair) .  So if you don't write spelling mistake it's very weird.

Sometimes (In the first sentence or the 5th), the best word is "gâcher", but in the second one, it would be "gagner".

But in the last post, maybe a beginning of solution

the context : Dargaud + Snoopy + Lucy = Comic strip Peanuts

Maybe if you have a reference to see the original, I could explain the context.

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Permalink Reply by Dwayne Roberts on December 20, 2014 at 10:20pm

Yes, indeed, it's Peanuts (or, it seems to be Snoopy in Canada where I bought the book).  I find it a pleasure to read French from these translations of Charles Schultz's oeuvres.

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Permalink Reply by Chantal Savignat on December 22, 2014 at 3:04pm

So I think it's a phonetic transcription of the sentence with a special accent.

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Permalink Reply by Dwayne Roberts on December 23, 2014 at 4:49pm

Ah hah.  When unable to translate, find the original.

gâgher was translated from this

Thanks to all who opined about this.  Joyeux Noël.

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Permalink Reply by Seb Murphy on January 14, 2015 at 5:16pm

Maybe it's a typo, the verb could be gacher, to mess up. Or gagner maybe?

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