I have been watching the movie Harry Potter à l’école des sorciers. In it Aunt Pétunia says:
Je tiens à ce que tout soit absolument parfait pour l’anniversaire de mon Dudley nouchet !
Does anyone know the meaning of nouchet? I have scoured the internet but to no avail. I believe it is a term of endearment (kind of like saying you are my little angel/cute pea…)
Thanks in advance,
M
Hi,
It seems to me that Dudleynouchet is a kind of diminutive that indicates affection. It’s not anything common but I guess each family has its own diminutives. There’s no rule when it comes to masculine diminutives in French so it often depends on the name of the “target” and the choice of the speaker.
I had never heard the -nouchet one though, but -ounet is fairly common. Samounet, Briçounet, Rominou… We could even say Mikounet! It sounds ridiculous and very childish so they’re often used to gently make fun of someone.
For women, -ette is widely used. It doesn’t sound as ridiculous as for men but it still is childish.
thanks for your response.
The idea behind the “-ounet// -ette” ending makes a lot of sense. i was just guessing at the spelling.
M
p.s. armed with the info. you gave me i was able to confirm and add to my knowledge. Specifically,
in French ( as in Spanish), they often add endings to people’s names. (e.g. -ounet/te).
So a girl called Laure : Laurounette. A boy called Louis : Louinounet.