Literal translation
to make a mincing, a slaughter
Meaning
to cause a massacre
Explanation
Chaple comes from the verb chapla, to chop, to cut, or to rasp, a gesture of violent, repeated cutting first applied to meat or wood; faire un chaple thus literally means making a mincing, a cutting into pieces, an image that extended to mean a massacre when applied to living beings, and to mean wrecking everything when applied to objects or a situation. The expression thus describes, literally, a violent and chaotic killing, and, figuratively, material devastation or complete disorder left after a quarrel, a fight, or an outburst of anger. The transcribed pronunciation faïré unn tchaplé shows the palatalization characteristic of the ch cluster in certain areas of the Provençal domain. The register is familiar, used both to report a serious event and, in everyday talk, to exaggerate the extent of otherwise limited damage. The image of chopping, a butchering or carpentry gesture, gives the expression its visual force of methodical destruction.