A "wesh" "pandemic" is spreading to London since a British rapper used it in one of his songs. Linguist Julien Barret takes the opportunity to look back at the origins of this interjection, which has been present in France since the 1990s.
The expression "wesh", used in France since the 1990s, is starting to be used by young Londoners. A linguistic migration that we owe to Central Cee. At the end of August, the British rapper, who is very popular across the Channel, used it in the song "Bolide noir" by Parisian JRK 19, on which he is a guest.
Nabeel, a Londoner on TikTok, was the first to testify to the scale of the phenomenon in his city: "London is experiencing a 'WSH pandemic'. Everyone I know is using it. I think I even heard my cat say it the other day!" With over 600,000 views and 80,000 likes, the video quickly went viral.
The word "wesh" of course finds its etymological origins in Arabic. Mainly used in Algeria, it is used in the expressions "Wech rak?" which means "How are you?" or "Wesh kayn?" for "What's up?". It can be compared to "quoi" in French, or "what" in English.
"Words travel and have no borders"
Julien Barret is a linguist and author of the Grand Livre des Punchlines from Sénèque to Nekfeu. For him, the "wesh" obviously has its source in Algerian Arabic, but another clue can also explain its use in France in the mid-1990s: "French rappers brought back the "wesh, wesh, yo" from American rap. In 1996, the group Lunatic released their now cult song, Le crime payé on the compilation Hostile. Booba begins the song with this famous "Wesh, wesh, yo" probably borrowed from the "Yesh yesh yo" of American rappers Heltah Skeltah, members of Fab5, who had used it in 1995 on their song Leflaur Leflah Eshkoshka".
Further proof for Julien Barret that "words travel and have no borders". For him, rap artists are the first pioneers of the work of linguists and those who write dictionaries: "They are the ones who can pin down an expression that flies like a butterfly, fix it on a sound and written medium. Dictionaries, on the other hand, are a little behind in fixing it." And to drive the point home: "Wesh is still not in the Petit Larousse. Which is quite strange for a dictionary that claims to reflect the usage and spirit of the times."