à quia

French

Etymology

From Latin quia (“because”); when one is out of arguments, the only line of argumentation left is saying “because [I say so]”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a kɥi.a/, /a kja/

• Audio:

  (file)

Adjective

à quia (invariable)

1. silenced, nonplussed, speechless, tongue-tied, dumbfounded

   réduire quelqu’un à quia, mettre quelqu’un à quia ― to reduce to silence, to silence, to hush up

   être à quia ― not to know what to say

   • 2019, Alain Damasio, chapter 5, in Les furtifs [The Stealthies], La Volte, →ISBN:

     Les bots réduits à quia, le champ s’ouvrait.

     With the bots tongue-tied, the field's open.

Further reading

• “quia”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.