What is Carte Blanche?

[Reephdweller]

What the hell is Carte Blanche anyway?

You'll hear someone say "Hey, you got Carte Blanche around here." I get the meaning, but what does it really mean and where did the term come from?

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[Bama]

I bet it's Latin

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[StupidGirlllll]

What are you playing...

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[KennethC]

It's French for a blank document. In modern usage it's usually referred to as a blank check.

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[TooCute]

<a href="http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&safe=off&q=what+is+the+origin+of+the+phrase+carte+blanche%3 F&btnG=Google+Search">Use google.</a>


From <a href="http://www.word-detective.com/020403.html">"The Word Detective"</a>:
As one of the theories you heard implies, "carte blanche" is originally from the French, where it literally means "blank paper."ÿ The term "carte blanche" was probably of military origin, meaning an agreement of unconditional surrender submitted by the loser to the victor consisting of a sheet of paper blank except for the defeated commander's signature, signifying that the victor could fill in his own terms.ÿ "Carte blanche" first appeared in English in this literal sense around 1700, but by later in the 18th century was being used in its modern "do whatever is necessary" sense.

There are a bunch of other theories <A href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-21343,00.html">here</a>.

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[Furtherman]

What is Carte Blanche?


Wasn't she one of the Golden Girls?


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[gypsy]

I know that during WW1 the krauts gave the Austria-Hungary empire a blank check, when it came to dealing with Serbia.

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[Death Metal Moe]

"carte blanche" is originally from the French, where it literally means "blank paper." The term "carte blanche" was probably of military origin, meaning an agreement of unconditional surrender


No way.

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[high fly]

My grandmother told me that it came from an old method of cleaning ink from paper.
Time was, when paper was expensive, when one needed a new piece, one would take a piece that had, say, old homework, or a shopping list or something; and dip the paper into boiling water briefly, "blanching" it, which would cause the ink to float off.
Then the sheet of paper would be hung up on a sort of clothesline in front of the fireplace to dry.



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This message was edited by high fly on 12-9-03 @ 7:51 PM