Che (interjection)

Che (/tʃeɪ/; Spanish: [tʃe]; Portuguese: tchê [ˈtʃe]; Valencian: xe [ˈtʃe]) is an interjection commonly used in Argentina, Uruguay, Bolivia, Paraguay, Brazil (São Paulo and Rio Grande do Sul) and Spain (Valencia), signifying "hey!

The Argentine revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara earned his nickname from his frequent use of the expression, which amused his Cuban comrades.

According to the Diccionario de la Lengua Española, it is comparable to the archaic ce used in Spain to ask for someone's attention or to make someone stop.

[5] Due to its spread in South America, alternative etymologies have been suggested by analogy with indigenous words: The first recorded use of che in Spanish America appears to be in 19th-century Argentine writer Esteban Echeverría's short story "The Slaughter Yard" ("El matadero"), published posthumously in 1871 but set in 1838–1839 in the Rosas era.

[citation needed] In Spain, che is widely used in Valencia and Terres de l'Ebre, Catalonia (written as xe), as an interjection.

Signature used by Ernesto Guevara from 1960 until his death in 1967. His frequent use of the word "che" earned him this nickname.