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Where does the word "je ne sais quoi" come from? It comes from French je ne sais quoi, and was adopted directly into English (1650s).
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Where does the word "je ne sais quoi" come from? It comes from French je ne sais quoi, and was adopted directly into English (1650s).
Je ne sais quoi’s story begins in French: je ne sais quoi meant “I don't know what.” Literally I don't know what, describing an indefinable quality. It reached English by 1650s as je ne sais quoi. French 'I don't know what'; Dominique Bouhours wrote an essay on it in 1671. Today, je ne sais quoi means a pleasant quality that is hard to describe or identify.
- Stage 1 · French · 1600s je ne sais quoi "I don't know what", literally I don't know what, describing an indefinable quality.
- Stage 2 · English · 1650s je ne sais quoi "an indefinable, attractive quality", French 'I don't know what'; Dominique Bouhours wrote an essay on it in 1671.