A few weeks ago I was listening to a heated discussion on talk radio. I no longer recall what the debate was about, but something that was said caught my ear and I listened intently for several minutes. There were two "experts", a man and a woman, with contrasting views. At one point there was a caller who agreed with the points expert #1 was making. The caller made several statements to which expert #1 would agree. After the caller made his last statement, expert #1 replied "touché". From the context of the conversation and the statement being made by the caller, expert #1 had to have meant "touché" as a word meaning agreement. Since then I have heard someone on television do the same thing. And of course, I was very irritated both times.
So, just in case there is anyone out there who isn't sure what touché means or when it should be used, here's the scoop:
The word "touché" is french for "touched", but according to the American Journal of Etymology it is not of French origin. It is believed that it was probably imported to France from the original Norse language of Norman settlers.
