kinder, kirche, küchen.

Etymology: Apparently < German Kinder, Kirche, Küche, lit. ‘children, church, kitchen’ (also with the elements in a different order; now usually Kinder, Küche, Kirche) (see note) < Kinder , plural of Kind child (see child n.) + Kirche church n.¹ + Küche kitchen n.¹In the current, three-part form, the expression apparently originated in feminist discourse, where it was used ironically by speakers distancing themselves from the underlying concept, although it goes back to similar alliterative lists of the aspects of a woman's domain, used more seriously, e.g. Kammer, Kinder, Küche, Keller, Kleider chamber, children, kitchen, cellar, clothes (1810), and also Kirche, Kammer, Küche, Kinder church, chamber, kitchen, children (1870, with reference to a 1548 work, where the list appears in a marginal note on a more discursive passage). The more codified three-part form is apparently first attested in English and only slightly later in German (1897 or earlier). In early use, it was sometimes attributed to Auguste Viktoria, wife of Kaiser Wilhelm II, and occasionally to Wilhelm himself (compare quots. 1892 and 1899), who were both opposed to women's liberation. Compare the following example showing a slightly longer expression:1899 Westm. Gaz. 17 Aug. 6/2 She [sc. Auguste Viktoria] says women have no business to interfere with anything outside the four K's..The four K's are—‘Kinder, Kirche, Küche, and Kleider—children, church, kitchen, and dress.’ Before the second half of the 20th cent., the expression appears to have been more common in English than in it was in German; it was apparently not used by the Nazis in this form, although such use was alleged in other countries from the 1930s (compare quot. 1935). Compare further discussion in S. Paletschek in E. François Deutsche Erinnerungsgeschichte II. (2001) 419-33. Notes on variant forms. The variant die küche, die kirche, die kinder shows use of the German definite article (die , plural and feminine singular) that would be unidiomatic in German for this type of expression. The form kinder, kirche, kueche reflects the German convention of using ue instead of ü where a suitable letter type is not available. Uses with capital initial reflect the standard German spelling of nouns with capital initial.