Baroque

R

Rainbowlight

Senior Member
Spanish
Hello everyone,

I know that many languages have adopted the word "baroque" to describe an art style. However, I would like to know if there's another specific word in your language to describe objects, buildings and even dresses whose design is considered excessive, extravagant and overcomplicated.

Thanks for your time and help.
 
    • Well, Spanish, as you know, and as the RAE dictionary attests, also has churriguerismo (n.) and churrigueresco (adj.) for that. ;) It's true, though, that I'm not sure either of them is employed anymore in that sense nowadays. It certainly isn't in Mexico, where I've only ever heard it used to refer to the actual architectural style.
     
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    Whilst Cymraeg/Welsh doesn't have anything special here, a few points on the word used, baróc /ba'rok/ (n.m.) and (adj.) may be of interest.

    - The first reference to the word seems to be in 1959 (GPC)
    - The stress pattern indicates the 'foreignness' of the term, with the accent being on the final syllable and not the usual penult
    - The [k] stands for <q>, there being no <q> in the alphabet. (Nor indeed, <k>; <c> is always /k/)
    - The acute accented <ó> (not a letter of the alphabet) is rarely seen, and is used to denote a stressed, short vowel
     
    Two possible words in Catalan as a synonym of barroc (m.) / barroca (f.) in that sense would be

    recarregat (m.), recarregada (f.) ['overloaded']​
    enfarfegat (m.), enfarfegada (f.)​
     
    There is this word in casual English

    noun
    noun: frou-frou
      • frills or other ornamentation, particularly of women's clothes.
        "a little froufrou skirt"
    It has a negative connotation but it's a mild word.
     
    Rocambolesco (amo esa palabra); farolero (dependiendo del contexto: muy llamativo, pero también -eventualmente- vulgar); estrambótico; alharacoso. Hay más, pero debería detenerme en los matices específicos...pero no hoy.
     
    kentix said:
    There is this word in casual English

    noun
    noun: frou-frou
      • frills or other ornamentation, particularly of women's clothes.
        "a little froufrou skirt"
    It has a negative connotation but it's a mild word.
    Click to expand...
    Interestingly, we're using something similar here too, when referring to a woman who cares alot about her public image and appearance, we say she cares only for «φρου-φρου κι αρώματα» [fruˈfrucaˈɾo̞mat̠a] --> frou-frou and perfumes.
    It has a negative connotation but it's not rude.

    Rainbowlight said:
    Hello everyone,

    I know that many languages have adopted the word "baroque" to describe an art style. However, I would like to know if there's another specific word in your language to describe objects, buildings and even dresses whose design is considered excessive, extravagant and overcomplicated.

    Thanks for your time and help.
    Click to expand...
    Isn't rococo an extravagant version of baroque? We're not Roman Catholic so we weren't influenced by it here, but we do know and use the word of course, «μπαρόκ» [baˈɾo̞k] (neut. indeclinable), and «ροκοκό» [ɾo̞ko̞ˈko̞] (neut. indecl.).
     
    סייבר־שד said:
    Well, Spanish, as you know, and as the RAE dictionary attests, also has churriguerismo (n.) and churrigueresco (adj.) for that. ;) It's true, though, that I'm not sure either of them is employed anymore in that sense nowadays. It certainly isn't in Mexico, where I've only ever heard it used to refer to the actual architectural style.
    Click to expand...
    Thanks for your help.
     
    Welsh_Sion said:
    Whilst Cymraeg/Welsh doesn't have anything special here, a few points on the word used, baróc /ba'rok/ (n.m.) and (adj.) may be of interest.

    - The first reference to the word seems to be in 1959 (GPC)
    - The stress pattern indicates the 'foreignness' of the term, with the accent being on the final syllable and not the usual penult
    - The [k] stands for <q>, there being no <q> in the alphabet. (Nor indeed, <k>; <c> is always /k/)
    - The acute accented <ó> (not a letter of the alphabet) is rarely seen, and is used to denote a stressed, short vowel
    Click to expand...
    Thank you very much.
     
    Azarosa said:
    Rocambolesco (amo esa palabra); farolero (dependiendo del contexto: muy llamativo, pero también -eventualmente- vulgar); estrambótico; alharacoso. Hay más, pero debería detenerme en los matices específicos...pero no hoy.
    Click to expand...
    Muchas gracias por su ayuda. : )
     
    apmoy70 said:
    Interestingly, we're using something similar here too, when referring to a woman who cares alot about her public image and appearance, we say she cares only for «φρου-φρου κι αρώματα» [fruˈfrucaˈɾo̞mat̠a] --> frou-frou and perfumes.
    It has a negative connotation but it's not rude.


    Isn't rococo an extravagant version of baroque? We're not Roman Catholic so we weren't influenced by it here, but we do know and use the word of course, «μπαρόκ» [baˈɾo̞k] (neut. indeclinable), and «ροκοκό» [ɾo̞ko̞ˈko̞] (neut. indecl.).
    Click to expand...
    Thank you very much.
     
    Just to clarify for those who haven't heard the word, although frou-frou might look like it's pronounced frow-frow, it's actually pronounced fru-fru (or frew-frew).

    It looks like it matches Greek.
     
    kentix said:
    Just to clarify for those who haven't heard the word, although frou-frou might look like it's pronounced frow-frow, it's actually pronounced fru-fru (or frew-frew).

    It looks like it matches Greek.
    Click to expand...
    Interesting point. I remember having heard the expression chi-chi to refer to things that are excessively elaborated.
     
    That's not exactly what chi-chi usually means, at least in the way I normally hear it (although it is one of the dictionary definitions). That's more frou-frou.

    Chi-chi is more about trendiness, in an expensive way. Here's the definition from Longman.

    very fashionable and expensive, or very concerned with fashionable things​

    An example sentence might be:

    - They live in a chi-chi neighborhood on the West Side.

    It's referring to a trendy neighborhood with probably newer, conspicuously expensive homes. You might see a lot of Jaguars and other expensive cars there.

    Here's another definition:

    adjective
    1. showily or affectedly elegant or trendy; pretentious.
    It's less physical and more about values and attitudes and class differences.
     
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    kentix said:
    There is this word in casual English

    noun
    noun: frou-frou
      • frills or other ornamentation, particularly of women's clothes.
        "a little froufrou skirt"
    It has a negative connotation but it's a mild word.
    Click to expand...
    But would that not be rococo rather? I see baroque as kind-of powerful, overladen (lit. overloaded), imposant, grandiloquent, with a lot of decoration, but nothing with little...
     
    Rococo is pretty much a technical word here used (mainly) about architecture. It's not used in our everyday English. It's definitely not used in the very casual register of frou-frou, which is generally about clothes, although I guess it could also be used about certain home decorating items, like overly-fancy curtains. I have never heard rococo used in the context of clothes.

    When the rococo era was at its height in Europe, the US was still a pre-independence land of colonists and settlers, many of whom lived in very simple wooden homes. There wasn't a lot of rococo building going on.

    "This meant that the Rococo was almost entirely an imported style, and not one widely embraced by American colonists."
     
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    You're right, I was thinking of the art form as such. But indeed, we can use barok in everyday language, not however rococo. Thanks for reminding me. And I guess baroque things in English will look different from barokke gebouwen (buildings) or barokke taal (language).

    I have just googled for everyday combinations with baroque but I was unable to find any. Could you give me three or five, simply to see whether we could use barok in those contexts?
     
    kentix said:
    That's not exactly what chi-chi usually means, at least in the way I normally hear it (although it is one of the dictionary definitions). That's more frou-frou.

    Chi-chi is more about trendiness, in an expensive way. Here's the definition from Longman.

    very fashionable and expensive, or very concerned with fashionable things​

    An example sentence might be:

    - They live in a chi-chi neighborhood on the West Side.

    It's referring to a trendy neighborhood with probably newer, conspicuously expensive homes. You might see a lot of Jaguars and other expensive cars there.

    Here's another definition:

    adjective
    1. showily or affectedly elegant or trendy; pretentious.
    It's less physical and more about values and attitudes and class differences.
    Click to expand...
    Thanks for the correction. : )
     
    I have always thought that Rococó could be seen as a late phase of Baroque art. What was seen as excessive became even more elaborated and intrincate. Think Versailles and the personal style of Queen Marie Antoinette, for example. I consider Neo-Classicism, which appeared after Rococó, as a sort of much-needed palate cleanser after all the array of all kinds of artistic follies.
     
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