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Patois

 [pat-wah, pah-twah; Fr. pa-twa]   Origin

pat·ois

   [pat-wah, pah-twah; Fr. pa-twa]
noun, plural pat·ois  [pat-wahz, pah-twahz; Fr. pa-twa] .
1.
a regional form of a language, especially of French, differing from the standard, literary form of the language.
2.
a rural or provincial form of speech.
3.
jargon; cant; argot.
Origin:
1635–45; < French: literally clumsy speech; akin to Old French patoier to handle clumsily, derivative of pate paw
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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unprincipled, untrustworthy, or dishonest dealing
perception, view
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Collins
World English Dictionary
patois (ˈpætwɑː, French patwa)
 
—n , pl patois
1.  an unwritten regional dialect of a language, esp of French, usually considered substandard
2.  the jargon of particular group
 
[C17: from Old French: rustic speech, perhaps from patoier to handle awkwardly, from patte paw]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

patois
"a provincial dialect," 1643, from Fr. patois "native or local speech," from O.Fr. patoier "handle clumsily, to paw," from pate "a paw," from V.L. *patta, perhaps imitative of the sound made by a paw. The language sense is probably from notion of clumsy manner of speaking. Especially in ref. to Jamaican
EXPAND
English from 1934.
COLLAPSE
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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