beaucoup

English

Alternative forms

• boku, boocoo, bookoo, buku

Etymology

Borrowed from French beaucoup. Popularized by American GIs during the Vietnam War.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /boʊˈkuː/, /ˈbuːkuː/

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

• Rhymes: -uː

Determiner

beaucoup

1. (US, especially Louisiana, informal) Much, many, a lot of.

   You know that cost beaucoup bucks!

   • 1925, John Dos Passos, Manhattan Transfer, New York, N.Y., London: Harper & Brothers, →OCLC, 3rd section, page 282:

     “I bet the skipper’s been drinkin^[sic] beaucoup highballs an^[sic] thinks Brooklyn’s Hoboken.”

   • 1979, Gustav Hasford, The Short-Timers, New York: Bantam Books, published 1980, →ISBN, page 93:

     Donlon says, "Well, we're rich and we got beaucoup beer and beaucoup chow. Now all we need is the Bob Hope show."

   • 1987 November 2, Michael Halperin, w:Dorothy Catherine Fontana, “Lonely Among Us”, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1, episode 7, spoken by Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton), production code 108:

     Then he'd have to be relieved of command. Which you could do, Doctor, but it's beaucoup trouble if you're wrong.

Noun

beaucoup (plural beaucoups)

1. An abundance.
   • 1970, “Beaucoups of Blues”, in Buzz Rabin (lyrics), Beaucoups of Blues‎^[1], performed by Ringo Starr:

     Alongside the road with holes in my soul and my shoes / And beaucoups of blues

Adverb

beaucoup (not comparable)

1. In abundance.

French

Je suis une brave poule de guerre / Je mange peu et produis beaucoup — I am a fine war-hen / I eat little and produce much

Alternative forms

• boucoup (Louisiana)

Etymology

Inherited from Old French biau cop, first attested circa 1210. Equivalent to beau (“nice, beautiful”) +‎ coup (“hit, strike”). The latter word also means “helping of soup or beverage”, first attested circa 1375, whose sense may have triggered or reinforced beaucoup to mean “a lot”.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bo.ku/

  • Audio:

    (file)

• (Louisiana) IPA^(key): /bo.ku/, /bu.ku/
• Rhymes: -u

Adverb

beaucoup

1. much, very much, a lot [with de ‘of’]

   Merci beaucoup! ― Thank you very much!

   Je mange beaucoup. ― I eat a lot.

   On connaît beaucoup de gens. ― We know a lot of people.

2. (Louisiana) very

   Un beaucoup vieux homme. ― A very old man.

Derived terms

• à beaucoup près
• c’est beaucoup
• de beaucoup
• il s’en faut de beaucoup
• pour beaucoup

 

Related terms

• beau
• belle
• coup

 

Descendants

• Louisiana Creole: bokou, boukou
• Mauritian Creole: boukou
• → English: beaucoup, boku, boocoo, bookoo, buku
• → Nigerian Pidgin: boku

See also

• plus
• autant
• moins

Further reading

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