Discussions about eggcorns and related topics
You are not logged in.
Registrations are currently closed because of a technical problem. Please send email to
The forum administrator reserves the right to request users to plausibly demonstrate that they are real people with an interest in the topic of eggcorns. Otherwise they may be removed with no further justification. Likewise, accounts that have not been used for posting may be removed.
Thanks for your understanding.
Chris -- 2018-04-11
For the (etymologically opaque) “chichi,” which comes from French and means roughly “trendy, chic, stylish,” some writers substitute “she-she,” which they apparently think comes from English “she” and means roughly “feminine, chic, stylish.”
Offline
Welcome, ruakh, and you’re certainly right about chichi’s opacity. Unfortunately there seems to be as many ‘sheeshees’ as ‘sheshes’ which suggests that it may be no more than a spelling error. It’s a pity it isn’t spelled ‘sheeshee’, as at least we’d know it was a Hebrew word for sixth, or, with shabbat, the weekend, when trendy folk attend chichi places and perhaps exhibit their own chichiness. A quick scan of the 237 ghits reveals that ‘sheeshee’ is also used in the US as a euphemism for urine (?), particularly in the child-rearing arena.
Offline
I think ruakh’s explanation may have some legitimacy to it. I can even see someone reducing “chic” to “she.” But, I think it would be hard to find an example on the net.
Offline