Wednesday, October 23, 2013

touchy, touché

Touchy or touchy means easily annoyed or upset--
What's wrong with him? He's very touchy today.
Have I said something to offend her, or is she just touchy?

Touché or touché is a French exclamation meaning "touched", in fencing or sword-fighting, as in "your sword has touched me", or, more generally, "you got me", used as a figurative "ouch", or "that hit the mark"--
Touché! You're right, I am making a fool of myself!
Touché! I do turn into an imbecile whenever she enters the room!

Now that you know that, you can say--
"Touché! I am being touchy and out-of-sorts because I had a fight with my girlfriend."

Note--"touchy" is also used in the expression "touchy-feely" to mean phychojargon or babble about emotions--
"The children have too much touchy-feely stuff inflicted on them in school."

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