WORD OF THE WEEK
WORD OF THE WEEK2011 - le coin à Jacques et Paul
Every week this page will spotlight at least one word, term, expression, or feature of the Canadian French language to explain: usage, pronunciation, frequency of use, etymology or the reason for its very existence.
After the page loads, you may need to refresh it in order to view the latest posting.
|
|
Far too often, such sites are nothing more than hangouts for the "Ti-Jos-Connaissants" (know-it-alls) of the world to hold court. I've read some pretty outrageous comments and advice posted by these "Experts" regarding Canadian French. Some postings are so outrageous they're comical. The depths of stupidity, arrogance, and toxicity that some people will stoop to in order to maintain a sense of linguistic superiority still amaze me.
If you have a question that hasn't been covered yet in any of the material on ToutCanadien, feel free to post your question on 
.
If you have a question about Canadian French, get your answer from a French Canadian… not the veterinarian… nor the auto mechanic… nor some yahoo on Yahoo! Answers.
lundi le 19, décembre, 2011
s'Ennuyer de ____ = to Miss ____
verb
Soupir… Je serai pas en famille pour Noël. Je vais m'ennuyer tellement de tout le monde !
Sigh… I won't be home for Christmas. I'm going to miss everyone so much!.
As a side note, if you're transitioning over from European French to Canadian French, the French find this verb a little "old-fashioned." Regardless, I have to point out that for the North-American Anglophone, this verbal construction mirrors the same way we think in English and consequently makes this verb very easy to use as opposed to how this would be said in France. This is the verb to use when you miss someone or something in the sense of feeling nostalgic. "Manquer" is the verb you use when you "didn't get to someone, something, or some place in time."
 | Je m'ennuie de mes amis et ma famille, mais c'est ma faute; j'ai manqué mon train pour Montréal. As a side note, be careful using the words "ennuyeux" and "ennuyant" in Canada. "Ennuyant" is the word that means "boring." In some places of Canada, "ennuyeux" means "homesick."
Joyeux Noël ! Heureuse Nouvelle Année ! |
lundi le 12, décembre, 2011
| Avoir (déjà) vu neiger (avant aujourd'hui) literally: to have already seen it snow before today figuratively: "to just fall off the turnip truck" Linus pouvait pas garrocher la motte de neige à Lucy, car—malgré son âge à elle—elle a déjà vu neigé avant aujourd'hui. Linus couldn't fling the snowball at Lucy, for—despite her age—she didn't just fall off the turnip truck. The expression means to have life experience, not to be as naive as you might think. Linus is "busted" (caught) by Lucy "la main dans le sac," which is a great expression whose origin is easy to understand; however, in English we would be more likely to say "red-handed." Hein ? = Huh? / Eh? Americans typically say "huh"; Canadians typically say "eh." I've heard it is said many times that "eh" stems from the French "hein," which seems totally plausible to me. |
|
lundi le 5, décembre, 2011
Voulez-vous un breuvage avec ça, monsieur ?
 | Boisson ? Breuvage ? |  |
Les fêtes s'approchent et avec ça beaucoup de célébrations de toutes les sortes. On bouffe et on boit… souvent à l’excès !
Au Québec, dans le parler typique (et traditionnel), le mot "breuvage" s'utilise pour faire référence au lait, au café, au thé, au jus, à l'eau, ou à la liqueur douce. (La liqueur = du Coke, du Pepsi, du Sprite, du Ginger Ale, et ainsi de suite. C'est "du soda" en France.)
Il est vrai que de nos jours, les restaurants élégants se servent du mot "boisson" pour faire référence à tous ces "beverages". Mais dans les restaurants moins péteux, on dit encore "breuvage" en réservant "la boisson" pour faire référence à la boisson alcoolisée. Eh bien, ceux (et celles) qui viennent de l'étranger et nous entendent dire "breuvage" dans ce contexte critiquent cet "anglicisme", mais ils ont très tort car le mot "beverage" était vraiment un gallicisme du vieux français.
Dans le parler quotidien du Québec, (et d'ailleurs en Amérique du Nord, soit francophone, soit anglophone !), on n'utilise pas le mot "boisson" pour faire référence au lait, au jus, au thé, au café, ou à la liqueur douce. Chez nous, dans le parler typique, le mot "boisson" ne s'utilise que pour parler de la consommation alcoolique.
It's almost the end of the year and you've gotten off pretty easy where "homework" is concerned; consequently, I thought I'd post something mainly in French to make you work just a little bit harder this week. This posting is just another good example of a Continental-American way of thinking that is shared between English and French speakers on THIS side of the Atlantic. Language is a reflection of culture.
Mini Quiz
• What is the gender of these two words: breuvage, boisson? (Hint - They are not of the same gender.)
Présentant Charlie Brown et la Gang - Un classique américain
 |
The Unsinkable Charlie Brown | L'Increvable Charlie Brown |
lundi le 28, novembre, 2011
Answers to last week's vocabulary list
If you’ve been following WOTW since its beginning, you know that we looked at the word “magasinage” last year at this time. Traditionally, the day after Thanksgiving—known as “Vendredi Noir” in North America—is a HUGE shopping day. It’s the official launch of the holiday shopping season. The uniquely Canadian terms that you should know while out shopping are as follows:
Mail = Mall
noun: masculine, singular
Centre d'achats = Shopping Center
noun: masculine, singular
What’s the difference between a shopping center and a mall? A mall will always be an "inside experience" with store and shop entrances accessible from within a large indoor open area. A shopping center is usually configured so that stores and shops open up directly to the outdoors. Be aware that some people continue to try to “Europeanize” Canada by using the French-French term “centre commercial,” (business center), which stirs up images of a business-park setting when I hear that term. Business parks typically don’t have places to shop. The Canadian term is really much more to the point.
• Le "Mail d'Amérique" se trouve au Minnesota.
• J'ai magasiné à la journée longue au Mail Champlain.
• Les mails vont se fermer de bonne heure la veille de Noel.
 | Argent = Money / Silver noun: masculine, singular Monnaie = Coin / Currency / Change noun: feminine, singular Change = Change noun: masculine, singular |
Pretty obvious where the English word "money" comes from. When you're talking about money, everyone better understand exactly what's transacting. The word "change" is used much more in Canada whereas the word "monnaie" is used much more in Europe to mean change. Rarely is there confusion between the two meanings of the word "argent"; context makes it clear.
• J'ai oublié mon change à la caisse.
• As-tu de l'argent pour payer le stationnement ?
"What’s in your wallet?" as the Capital One guys ask. (Notice how the gender changes.)
English | Informal | Formal | |
a cent | 1¢ | une cenne | un cent |
a penny | 1¢ | un sou | |
a nickel | 5¢ | un cinq-cennes | un cinq-cents / un cinq-sous |
a dime | 10¢ | un dix-cennes | un dix-cents / un dix-sous |
a quarter | 25¢ | un vingt-cinq cennes | un vingt-cinq cents / un trente-sous |
a half-dollar | 50¢ | un cinquante-cennes | un cinquante-cents |
a dollar | $1.00 | un dollar | |
a one-dollar bill | $1.00 | un billet d'un dollar | |
a loonie | $1.00 | | une piastre jaune |
a buck | $1.00 | une piasse | une piastre |
a two | $2.00 | un deux-piasses | un deux-piastres |
a two-dollar bill | $2.00 | | un billet de deux dollars |
a five | $5.00 | un cinq-piasses | un cinq-piastres |
a five-dollar bill | $5.00 | | un billet de cinq dollars |
a ten | $10.00 | un dix-piasses | un dix-piastres |
a ten-dollar bill | $10.00 | | un billet de dix dollars |
a twenty | $20.00 | un vingt-piasses | un vingt-piastres |
a twenty-dollar bill | $20.00 | | un billet de vingt dollars |
a fifty | $50.00 | un cinquante-piasses | un cinquante-piastres |
a fifty-dollar bill | $50.00 | | un billet de cinquante dollars |
a hundred | $100.00 | un cent-piasses | un cent-piastres |
a hundred-dollar bill | $100.00 | | un billet de cent dollars |
lundi le 21, novembre, 2011
 | With this posting, Word of the Week is one year old this week! |
If you happened to read my pontification on the "Find a Tutor" page, you know full well why it's important to learn Canadian French. That little rant includes the bolded words "…got it right." On that note, here's an example of a company that got it right! And I'm proud to say they are a Minnesota-based company.
Several months ago as I was perusing the Watkins’ catalog, I quickly noticed something; it wasn’t just bilingual; it was “North-American bilingual”! My focus abruptly changed from finding the wedding gift I had set out to buy to launching a vocabulary scouting expedition. "Let's just see how well they did," I said to myself.
Here’s a list of 15 uniquely Canadian-French terms. Someone DID do their homework.
courriel • lingettes tout-usage préchauffer beurre d’arachide fromage à la crème caramel écossais toute-épice Watkins sauce à trempette |  |
 | • fromage cottage • yogourt • craquelins • chocolat chaud instantané • certificats-cadeaux • purificateurs de pièce How many of them can you figure out yourself? |
I don't buy their products just because of their quality and service, now I also gladly give them my business out of respect and admiration for having “gotten it right”!
The holiday baking season is quickly approaching. To buy directly from Watkins on line (www.Watkinsonline.com) you need an associate's ID # to put in this required field:
Here is the name and number of a loyal ToutCanadien patron whom I wholeheartedly endorse:
• Marie Trepanier (marie2fly@gmail.com)
• 384348
And Merci! Watkins for your fine products and your respectable bilingual efforts!
 | Bonne Action de Grâces ! See vocabulary from last year's entry… |
Don't be late for dinner! If you've been invited to dinner at a friend's place in Quebec, better read Paul's posting (in English) on the ToutCanadien page.
lundi le 14, novembre, 2011
Vétéran = Veteran
noun: masculine, singular
Vétérane = Veteran
noun: feminine, singular
I shamefully overlooked the fact that this past weekend was Veterans Day in the U.S. and Remembrance Day in Canada. As in English, the secondary meaning of this word has been extended to mean "anyone who's been doing something for a long time and therefore has a lot of experience at it," as in "He's a veteran landscaper" or "She's the veteran cook at the high school."
| Un GROS MERCI à tous les vétérans et à toutes les vétéranes qui ont servi en Amérique du Nord ! |
|
Infonuagique = Cloud-computing
noun: feminine, singular
adjective invariable in the singular
« Au lieu de courrieller pour transmettre des fichiers, utiliser un service infonuagique ».
"Instead of e-mailing to transmit files, use a cloud-computing service."
I pulled this statement off the web from somewhere in Canada to illustrate just how quickly new terms really CAN be coined and put into circulation thus totally avoiding the needless use of just one more ridiculous raw Anglicism. Unfortunately, this is not the practice everywhere in la Francophonie (Please, please, no names!).
"E-mail" is hardly a new term any more. "To e-mail," which is a verb, of course, is a logical extension of the noun "e-mail." Works the same way in Canadian French, hence the word "courrieller" (to e-mail) :
Je vais te courrieller l'information mais que je puisse.
L'infolettre paroissiale a été courriellée à la congrégation le mercredi.
"Infonuagique" is our term for "cloud-computing," a much newer term than "e-mail." A lot of people have no idea what that means in French or English, but like other "geek schpiel," it won't be long before Grandma is even using the term.
lundi le 7, novembre, 2011
Bouillage = Boiling
noun: masculine, singular
A word you'll often hear in the springtime in Quebec as maple syrup production shifts into high gear. However, the focus this week is not on any special Canadian meaning or usage; the focus this week is on the intersection of two North-American language aspects that come to mind because of this word.
Here in Minnesota, the only state among all 50 whose state motto is in French, l'Étoile du Nord (The Star of the North), there is a rich and somewhat forgotten history of the French Canadians among the vast majority of its population. If you were to ask someone which ethnicity they think of when you say "Minnesota," they will undoubtedly tell you, "Scandinavian," and those really in the know, would add, "With a lot of Finns up there on The Range" (the Iron Range). All true! And I'd like to tell you that the French Canadians were here first, but the fact of the matter is, as a good Minnesotan, we believe the Vikings not only discovered the New World (NOT Columbus), but we also have "proof" in the Kensington Runestone that they would have been the first of European stock to visit the state and not the French Canadians. I digress.
Here in the St. Paul/Minneapolis metropolitan area, many churches and VFWs every fall put on a booya supper or festival. As mysterious as the origins of the Kensington Runestone, the word "booya" means nothing to the locals here except one hell of a good, hearty, thick soup to be had with good bread and beer, of course. Booya is cooked outside in huge kettles and typically contains game meats such as duck and pheasant. However, if you speak French and know just a little bit about the cultural history of the region, you can clearly see where the term "booya" originates. (The word "bouillage" in French would be phonetically written as "booyage" to facilitate pronunciation for the Anglophone.)
That said, now let's look at the ending of the word "bouillage," that being the "age" part. There are two primary noun endings in Canadian French that serve the same purpose as "ing" does in English; they are "age" and "isme." Canadian French makes use of the "age" ending a lot more than its European counterpart and the same can be said about the ending "isme." (As you probably know, "isme" also corresponds more often to the English noun ending "ism.")
Campisme = Camping
noun: masculine, singular
Summer camping has certainly wound down here in the Great White North, but as campers will tell you, camping is an all-year-round activity. Although the useless loan word "camping" from English has crept further and further into the North-American French lexicon, the word "campisme" is used by those who prefer to speak French. It's not hard to figure out why the word "camping" has set up camp here and is probably here to stay. Think about it; it saves the Canadian Government (Park Services) thousands of dollars to use the "International French" word "camping" for signage all across the country. Official bilingualism costs! This constitutes a veritable two-for-the-price-of-one savings for the Federal Government… not to mention just one more example of how insignificant the local French language is to the federal government of Canada. (And Americans and Canadians wonder why the Quebeckers seek their own country?!?! It all starts with language and culture.)
affichage = posting | allumage = lighting | camionnage = trucking | clavardage = keyboarding | espionnage = spying | filtrage = filtering | voyage = traveling…
culturisme = body-building | cyclisme = biking | gargarisme = gargling | graphisme = handwriting | somnambulisme = sleep-walking | synchronisme = timing | urbanisme = city-planning…
(1) In North-American English, we share words and terms with Canadian French that we are not even remotely aware of.
(2) In North-American French, there's really no need whatsoever for the English-language noun ending "ing."
lundi le 31, octobre, 2011
Outarde = Canada Goose / Canadian Goose
noun: feminine, singular
(The "preferred" term in English is "Canada Goose.")
They're on the move! A sure sign that winter is around the corner.
The word for "goose" in French is "oie." Although "outardes" are a type of "oie," and if you were to say, "oie canadienne," you would make yourself understood, it would be with a grin and perhaps a chuckle on the receiving end. This is a fine example of why we don't translate word for word.
Un autre terme moins utilisé au Canada c'est "une bernache du Canada".
Cette Action de grâces, on va prendre de la viande d'outarde au lieu du dindon.
This Thanksgiving, we're going to have Canada goose (meat) instead of turkey.
Halloween
noun: feminine, singular
On dit "l'Halloween" au Canada; il n'y a pas de "H" aspiré.
Halloween has become the second largest party day in the U.S. after New Years Eve. "Big Kids" like to dress up too! It's also celebrated in Canada.
If you like scary animation, the following is some great "scary" animation from Quebec! Têtes-à-Claques has been around now for over five years and its creator has produced some really funny animated clips. Note that part of the humor involved here is the exaggerated Quebec accent and the intentional use of a lot of raw Anglicisms. You'll find these two elements in all his video clips. Check out this Halloween video called "Halloween 3". It is, of course, the sequel to the other Halloween video clips, which are easy to find navigating the site. Again, don't be discouraged if you don't understand; just listen and get a sense of the rhythm and sound.
Une fête d'origine anglo-saxonne
Les enfants masqués et déguisés sortent le soir en groupes, d'habitude accompagnés de quelques parents, pour aller de maison en maison dans leur voisinage pour montrer leur costume et demander des bonbons. Les partys sont très très communs aussi.
Amusez-vous ce soir !
 | Heure Normale = Standard Time noun: feminine, singular Remember that we "fall back" this coming Sunday, November 6th and return to Standard Time in most places in North America.
|
lundi le 24, octobre, 2011
Snob = Snob
noun: masculine, feminine, singular
Again, picking up on a sentiment from last week's posting brings us to this week's posting…
Quite unfortunately, where the French language is concerned, this is a matter that needs to be addressed. No other language on Earth has the snob appeal that French has… not exactly something to brag about. In fact, as a Franco-American, I frankly consider it a plague.
The French Canadians have this weird love-hate relationship with the French, with the hate mostly targeting the Parisians and the love shining on the Normans and Britons. Like New York or London or any other enormous international city, there tends to be a "snob factor" present and Paris is no exception; in fact, it's probably the worst.
That said, the snobs that are the worst are NOT the French nor the Parisians as most might suspect. They are Anglophone "French-speaking" wannabes with high-school- and college-textbook French-speaking abilities who have bought into this whole cesspool concept of elitism and snobbery. When I say this I can't help but think of Mrs. Olson on the show "Little House on the Prairie," right here in my home state of Minnesota. I recall the episode where she was SOOOOOOOO excited because someone who spoke French was coming to town and, of course, that could only bring culture and sophistication and that sent the needle on her "snobometer" crashing to the right side. Turns out a Black gentleman came to town whose "French" was not "real French," because obviously he wasn't from Paris. Most Americans would remember that episode's "message" as pertaining to racism; however, if you are a Franco-American, you may have taken note of both the sins committed there.
Unfortunately for us speakers of French on this side of the Atlantic, since what we speak is not considered "real French" by the English-speaking snob intelligentsia, we are immediately invalidated. Not that we "give a rat's ass" (a little French-Canadian Voyageur expression) about their twisted opinion, but there seems to be no end to the misinformation these idiots spread about Canadian French, Haitian French and any version of French that doesn't spin around the Eiffel Tower.
Again, I want to point out, you don't find this happening in, say, Hungarian or Spanish. It's truly a weird phenomenon; as I said before, a veritable plague. So there are a few vocabulary words that you should become familiar with early on in your voyage along the Trans-Canadian linguistic highway because if you haven't encountered one already, you WILL encounter one of these self-proclaimed authorities eventually.
Using one of these words will relay the message loud and clear as these terms are used internationally:
Snob = Snob
noun: masculine, feminine, singular
Wow ! As-tu entendu ce qu'il a dit ? Quel snob !
Wow! Did you hear what he said? What a snob!
Snobinard = Snobbish
adjective
Quand j'ai parlé à Dee de mon nouveau chandail trouvé chez Zeller, elle m'a dit, "Moi, je ne magasine que chez LaBaie" ! Tu sais… La plupart du temps, je dois dire… je la trouve pas mal snobinarde.
When I spoke to Dee about my new sweater found at Zeller's, she said to me, "I only shop at LaBaie!" You know, most of the time, I have to say… I find her kind of snobbish.
Snobisme = Snobbery
noun: masculine
Leur snobisme incessant leur a coûté l'amitié et le respect de beaucoup de monde.
Their incessant snobbery has cost them the friendship and the respect of a lot of people.
And a few Canadian terms you could use to leave them scratching their heads would be the following:
Frappé = Snoot / Stuffed shirt / Weirdo
noun: masculine, singular
Frappée = Snoot / Stuffed shirt / Weirdo
noun: feminine, singular
Une couple de frappés pseudo-francophones ont essayé de me corriger l'autre jour quand je leur ai répondu, "Bienvenue". Peux-tu imaginer ça ?! Quel culot !
A couple of pseudo-French-speaking snoots tried to correct me the other day when I responded "Bienvenue" [You're welcome] to them. Can you imagine!? What nerve!
Péteux, Péteuse = Hoity-toity
adjective
Éh Michel, as-tu entendu la nouvelle ? Une gang péteuse de profs universitaires de français du Texas sont venus au Maine pour nous enseigner le français icitte. Quelle rigolade ! Ça va être le fonne, hein ?!
Hey Michael, did you hear the news? A hoity-toity gang of French university profs from Texas have come to Maine to teach us French here. What a laugh! This is going to be fun, éh?!
Ti-jos connaissant = Know-it-all
noun: masculine, singular
Ce Luc là, que chu tanné de lui ! Il joue toujours le ti-jos connaissant à tous les partys.
That Luke, man I'm sick of him! He's always playing the know-it-all at all the parties.
I trust you're interested in learning Canadian French for all the RIGHT reasons. Canadian French is no more special than any other language nor any more inferior.
lundi le 17, octobre, 2011
Picking up on last week's theme after having just been to a conference in Fargo on the "French in the Midwest," I thought it appropriate to take a look at the following. As a speaker of Canadian French, these are terms you should be familiar with.
Métis / Métisse = Metis [Métis]
noun: masculine, feminine, singular
Remember…
• The "t" has a "tz" sound, which admittedly is hard to capture without the aid of an audio file.
• Because the final consonant sound is a pronounced "s" sound (as opposed to a final "s" that sounds like a "z"), the "i" in both Métis and Métisse is pronounced as a short "i" as in the English word jig. Consequently, the masculine and the feminine form sound identical.
Yes, I did say somewhere on this site that Canadian French's pronunciation is more complicated. Now you believe me. At least there is a recognizable pattern… once you know it. Check out the Pronunciation Guide in the Document Library if you haven't already done so for all the gory details.
Webster's Métis: a person of mixed blood; especially often capitalized: the offspring of an American Indian and a person of European ancestry
First Known Use: 1816Dictionnaire Nord-Américain de la Langue Française MÉTIS, ISSE (mé-tis'. Lat. mixtus, mêlé) adj. Qui est né d'un blanc et d'une Indienne (d'Amérique), ou d'un Indien et d'une blanche. • Qui est engendré par deux êtres d'espèce différente, en parlant des animaux: animaux métis; des races métisses. • En bot. Fleurs métisses, fruits métis, fleurs, fruits nés du mélange de deux espèces. • N.m. et f. Se dit des hommes et des animaux.
In short - A lovely blend of French-Canadian and Native-American
So why do we NOT pronounce the "s" in English when it IS pronounced in French? Well… good question! I can't say for certain, but I'm willing to wager that somewhere at some point in time some know-it-all francophone wannabe just assumed it was silent based of the pronunciation rules they had learned in school instead of actually paying attention to its proper pronunciation in French. WHOA! Wait a second there! Who SAYS we have to pronounce the "s" just because it's pronounced in French? Think about that for a moment… Keep thinking…
If we French speakers can frenchify an English word incorporating it into our language as we see fit, why can't this be true in reverse? Well, it IS true in reverse! Now you have proof of precedence.
For those readers outside of the Midwest, perhaps the best known Métis is Louis Riel, the "Father of Manitoba." There's plenty of good information on the Internet about Monsieur Riel. Read up! It's a fascinating story.
Mitchif / Mitchive = Michif/Metis
noun: masculine, feminine, singular
Remember "tch" in French is how English "ch" (as in the word change) is written.
The final "i" in Mitchif is pronounced as a short "i" as in the English word jig; however the final "i" in Mitchive is the usual long "i". (See the Pronunciation Guide.)
Another less known and disappearing term for the Metis people. This is also the name of their mixed Canadian French and Amerindian (mainly Cree) language—Michif.
Curious? Check out this video on YouTube. How much French did you pick up? Wikipedia has some good basic info on the Mitchif language found here.
A band that has done a great job in recognizing both the Metis people and specifically Louis Riel is the group The Louis Boys from Saint Boniface/Winnipeg. Unfortunately, I was not able to locate any web site for them nor do I find anything on YouTube any more.
lundi le 10, octobre, 2011
Happy Thanksgiving Canada!
Été des Indiens = Indian summer
noun: masculine, singular
No politics this week; no sermon on the insidious evils of Anglicisms, just something we all appreciate in the Great White North—Indian summer. "Indian summer" is welcomed on this sid
e of the Atlantic or the other, but there are slightly different ways of expressing this gift from Mother Nature.
1. L'été indien (France)
2. L'été des Indiens (Québec/Canada)
TIDBIT
Take a closer look at the word "indien" in the above. Notice how one is capitalized and the other is not? That's because in French, the adjective form of a nationality or ethnicity is not capitalized while the noun form is. Certainly not a matter of life or death should you get it wrong, just one of those little things that sets you apart from the rest of the crowd.
lundi le 3, octobre, 2011
Anglicisme = Anglicism
noun: masculine, singular
Now that fall is officially here and it's cooled off a little, we can touch this Hot Topic. Unless you speak another language, this term may not be all that familiar to you. It's definition is simple—any word taken directly from the English language and used in another language.
Never mind the fact that the French invaded England and forever changed the English Language; we don't need the American Anglophones now doing the same to Canadian French. As Grandma would say, "Two wrongs don't make a right." This week I'm doing something a little out of the ordinary for "Word of the Week." I'm referring everyone to the "What's the big difference anyway?!" page of this web site and specifically to the new section on that page called…
…ToutCanadien's Official Stance on Anglicisms
And if you're really interested in getting into the nitty-gritty. Click here for examples.
Bonne lecture !
Vive la langue francanadienne !
Protégeons-la tous !
lundi le 26, septembre, 2011
Blé d'Inde = Corn noun: masculine, singular |  It's harvest time! | Maïs = Corn noun: masculine, singular |
Last week I talked about how the French have overcomplicated the word "potato." This week we're going to look at how the French Canadians have kind of overcomplicated the word "corn." (Hey, fair is fair, right?!)
Again, you will find that TWO words are used in French Canada. To simplify matters, I wish I could tell you that the terms were used interchangeably, but I’m afraid I’d be lying. So they require a closer look.
Corn is a real American thing; it belongs to this continent. When the French first came to North America, corn was unknown in Europe. Just think how pathetically thin we'd all be today if most everything we ate didn't have high-fructose corn syrup in it! Corn is without a doubt a huge cash crop in the U.S. So how did such an American thing end up with a name like "wheat of India" in North-American French?!
Years ago, when I was a kid in Minnesota, we called all the Native-Americans, "Indians." We played Cowboys & Indians and we watched shows like Bonanza, Gunsmoke, and the Lone Ranger where, again, all the Native-Americans were referred to as simply Indians. A widespread misnaming of millions of people all across both North and South America because some dude in a wooden ship from Europe with a faulty GPS landed in this hemisphere and thought he was in INDIA (like Indians from India and Native Americans even remotely look alike!)!
As North Americans became more and more aware of this misnaming especially in the late 1990s, in particular, with corporations moving a lot of IT/IS operations to INDIA, confusion set in when someone said the word "Indian" to describe a person. With social trends pushing for "political correctness" it seemed that "geographical correctness" was in order as well. Indians as we knew them here on this continent began to be referred to as "American Indians" or "Amerindians" and "Native-Americans" and particularly in Canada "First-Nations People."
Back to the word "corn" or "blé d'Inde" in Canadian French. I think it's fairly obvious how it got its name, but the interesting thing is that the word "maize" is an Amerindian word and "maize" means corn. "Maize" also looks like "maïs." (No secret where the word "maïs" originated, right?) So why didn't the early French Canadians just use the word "maïs"? Colonists who saw these "Indiens" eating corn compared it to the wheat (blé) they knew, and it became "blé d'Inde." It wasn't until later that the word "maïs" entered the French language through Spanish, but "blé d'Inde" was already entrenched.
Use this term to express… | Use either term to express… | Use this term to express… | ||
| Blé d'Inde | Blé d'Inde Maïs | Maïs | |
|
|
| ||
Le pâté chinois se fait avec de la viande hachée, des patates, et du blé d'Inde.
Le blé d'Inde a bien poussé cette année; les fermiers ont eu une bonne récolte !
Le maïs éclaté est ben populaire aux petites vues.
Note that all four letters of the word "maïs" are pronounced. It is NOT pronounced as in English; it is pronounced "mahy-ISS" with a short "i" sound.
lundi le 19, septembre, 2011
Patate = Potato
noun: feminine, singular
Pomme de terre = Potato
noun: feminine, singular
So what IS it called in Canada?! It seems I'm finding both terms are used.
Good eye! Says Monsieur Patate to the right. (And who would know more about eyes?)
First, before I get up on my preacher’s pulpit, for you beginners, a “pomme” is an apple and “terre” means Earth, so “pommes de terre” are, in essence, “earth apples.” Cute, éh?
Product labeling in Canada is an interesting dance between REAL Canadian French and International French. You will not hear the silly term "pomme de terre" very often, with perhaps the exception being certain Radio-Canada announcers* who annoyingly try to be "more French than the French." It's also possible you'll hear it in a large international city like Montreal mainly among immigrants as opposed to the original "old French stock."
"Silly"? Yes, I did say "silly"! For some reason, way back when, some hoity-toity French person back in France thought that the term "patate" or "patata" used by all the other romance languages needed a euphemistic transformation if it were going to be acceptable into the precious French language. (MY OH MY HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED IN FRANCE!) So they took a single-word term (patate) and turned it into a three-word term (pomme de terre). Brilliant, éh? Yes, that's why I use the word "silly" —a euphemism itself of what I usually say—to describe this etymology.
All personal feelings aside, you can't deny the fact that the term "pomme de terre" has managed to infiltrate and pollute the French language of North America. The argument that's been used to support its existence is this whole thing regarding the "…world getting smaller and smaller and we have to be more international because of exports…" Really?! Bookmark that thought.
To summarize usage, let's put it this way. "Patate" is the term you'll hear used by normal people in normal everyday situations. If you go to a French or Belgian restaurant in Canada, you're likely to encounter the term "pommes de terre" used on the menu. If you go to a grocery store, like an IGA supermarket, you'll find that the labeling also states "pommes de terre." It's mainly commercial contexts where the term "pomme de terre" will be used. You may be wondering if there's confusion between the meaning "apple" and "potato" when the term "pomme de terre" is used. No. Context makes it clear. Even with "pommes frites," which could mean "fried apples" or "fried potatoes" (French fries) there generally is no confusion. There's no reason to wonder if you're standing in line at McDonald's if "pommes frites" means "fried apples" or "fried potatoes," right? (When was the last time you got "fried apples" at McDonald's?)
Now, back to our bookmark, this matter of product labeling in Canada. Knowing what you now know about potatoes and the generic argument for "international labeling," don't you find it interesting that boxes of blueberries all say "bleuets" on them and not "myrtilles," the term used in La France? Here in the Midwest, I've purchased at my local grocery store in the past blueberries from Chili. Even the boxes from Chili say "bleuets" on them in addition to the English and Spanish labeling.
*NOTE—The speech heard on Radio Canada isn't always a very good example of everyday Québec speech. Too many people, too often there, try to imitate the French, as if it makes them sound "smarter" or something. It doesn't! It's quite the opposite effect that is achieved. Furthermore, it's an insult to the people of Québec.
 | "International labeling"? Hardly! Pantoute! |  |
lundi le 12, septembre, 2011
Télécharger = to Download
verb
Contrary to what you might be told from someone from France or another Anglophone who claims to speak French, the word "télécharger" just means to "DOWNload." As you know, there's a big difference between downloading and uploading a file. It's all about direction from point A to point B and vice versa, you might say.
Tout le monde devrait télécharger et installer Adobe Reader afin d'ouvrir les fichiers .pdf trouvés dans la bibliothèque de ToutCanadien.
Everyone should download and install Adobe Reader in order to open .pdf files found in the ToutCanadien library.
Téléverser = to Upload
verb
If you know how to say, "download," you need to know how to say "upload." Don't even think of saying "uploader" like the French! Quebeckers are creative folk; they invented the word "courriel" (e-mail) and they coined the word "téléverser."
And, of course, from these verbs you get the following nouns: téléchargement and téléversement respectively. Like all nouns ending in -ment, they are masculine.
J'ai téléversé quelques photos à partir de mon cellulaire jusqu'a ma page Facebook.
I uploaded a few photos from my cell phone to my Facebook page.
Il semble qu'un téléchargement soit toujours ben plus rapide sur mon portable qu'un téléversement.
It seems a download is always much faster on my laptop than an upload.
lundi le 5, septembre, 2011
Cochambreur = Roommate
noun: masculine, singular
Cochambreuse = Roommate
noun: feminine, singular
It's that time of the year! And if you're headed off to your first year of college, here's a term you'll need to know.
Je viens de rencontrer ma cochambreuse; elle est originaire du Brésil. C'est évident que je vais apprendre un peu de portugais brésilien. Elle déjà parle un français québécois superbe !
I just met my roommate; she's from Brazil. It's obvious I'm going to learn a little Brazilian Portuguese. She already speaks superb Quebec French!
Foxer = to Skip
verb
Nope, this does not mean to lightly jump up and down as you walk merrily along… This is the kind of "skip" you do when you don't show up for class. You fill in the blanks below and you'll be all set to answer the inevitable question. (Note that "to cut class" means the same thing as "to skip class" and you Francophones may encounter both of these depending on where you go in North America.)
J'ai foxé mon cours de ______________ le mardi à cause que mon copain, ______________ , voulait aller plutôt à la plage pour étudier.
I skipped my ______________ class on Tuesday because my buddy ______________ , wanted to go to the beach to study instead.
lundi le 29, août, 2011
Ne pas être né de la dernière pluie = Not born of the last rain
expression/saying
With all the rain dumped on New England by the recent hurricane, the word "rain" seemed appropriate for this week.
"Not born of the last rain," in other words, "not born yesterday."
Chu pas né de la dernière pluie, Michel ! C'est évident que t'as…
I wasn't born yesterday, Mike! It's obvious you've…
lundi le 22, août, 2011
Allophone = Allophone
noun: masculine, feminine, singular
If you're already familiar with the terms: Francophone and Anglophone, you might be looking at this word, scratching your head wondering, "Which language could this possibly be?" This is a term used fairly often in Canada where discussions about language are much more common than in the U.S., albeit on the rise in the States.
You're an Allophone if you don't speak French or English. That's it. It's a quick way of referring to people who are not in either of the two major language camps. So if you are monolingual and coming from Mexico, Norway, or China, you're an Allophone. Oddly, this is not a term you'll find in Webster's Dictionary with this meaning.
Une grosse cité comme Montréal a beaucoup d'Allophones.
lundi le 15, août, 2011
Tuteur, Tuteure = Tutor
noun: masculine, feminine, singular
This truly IS the word of the week this week in particular as ToutCanadien launches a directory page to begin collecting names and contact information of folks who tutor in Canadian French. Please help spread the word. If you know someone who may be interested, point them in this direction. It costs nothing. The more, the merrier!
So… let's look at the word "tutor." If you look it up in your everyday bilingual dictionary, you get something like this:
tutor n : précepteur m, -trice f; professeur m particulier
Now look up "précepteur" and the feminine form "préceptrice." Now that's helpful, isn't it? No, not really? Don't you get the sense that the word really means "governor" or "governess," as in Maria von Trapp (Julie Andrews) in The Sound of Music. NOT exactly the same thing! So, scrap all that! This is a very good example of WHY a North-American bilingual dictionary is really really necessary for the world to have. The French "may" use that word, but the Canadians do not.
We all know what a tutor is in English-speaking North America; it is a "private teacher" as described above, but no one is going to say "professeur particulier." Remember, this is North America; we like brevity. The same rings true in Canadian French. Brevity is good!
J'espère pouvoir trouver un(e) tuteur(e) par le biais du site ToutCanadien pour m'aider à perfectionner mon français canadien !
I hope to be able to find a tutor through the ToutCanadien web site to help me perfect my Canadian French!
BON QUINZE AOÛT ! |  | Bonne Fête |
lundi le 8, août, 2011
Halte routière = Rest stop
noun: feminine, singular
It's full-blown summertime in North America. People are on the road traveling, going camping, doing picnics, making the most of being outdoors. Rest stops are a very important part of interstate travel, something we've come to take for granted. They come in all shapes and sizes and offer facilities from something as simple as an outhouse (une bécosse) along a Northern Wisconsin highway to a full-blown service center along I-80 in Ohio with restaurants, gasoline, and a place for semi-truck drivers to pull off of the freeway to spend the night. For you non-North-American readers, here's a little detail on terms used in the American Midwest:
A highway is usually two lanes and serviced by the state. In Canadian French, I would call this "une grand-route." Highways can cross state and country lines and often times change names and/or numbers when they do so.
A freeway is usually at least four lanes and serviced by the federal government because they go from state to state; in fact, another term for "freeway" is an "interstate." Still another term used, in particular in the State of Illinois is the term "expressway" as in the Eisenhower Expressway. Freeways/Interstates/Expressways also usually have fences on both sides to keep animals out of harm's way allowing traffic to be "free" to clip along at 70+ miles per hour. It's easy to see the relationship between the U.S. American term "expressway" and the Canadian French term "voie express."
Les systèmes de voies express en Amérique du Nord vous offrent des lieux commodes pour vous servir des toilettes, promener le chien, acheter une cannette de liqueur d'une machine et parfois même des lieux de resto rapide pour trouver un repas simple. Ces lieux s'appellent tout simplement des haltes routières et elles sont essentielles aux voyages à longue distance. Un autre aspect de certaines haltes routières est son emplacement. Il n'est pas incommun de trouver une plaque historique qui explique, par exemple, l'histoire géologique de la région ou quelque important évènement qui eut lieu dans les environs.
The freeway systems in North America offer you convenient places to make use of the facilities, walk the dog, buy a can of pop from a machine and sometimes even fast-food places to find a simple meal. These places are quite simply called rest stops and they are essential to long-distance travel. Another aspect of some rest stops is its location. It's not uncommon to find a historical plaque that explains, for example, the geological history of the area or some significant event that took place nearby.
lundi le 1, août, 2011
août
(Don't be pronouncing that final "t" in août!)
se Pomper = to Get worked up
verb
Following the horrific acts that happened this past week in Norway, as I examined my list of possible candidates for this week's selection, these terms popped out as appropriate choices.
Attention à ne pas te permettre à te pomper jusqu'au point de violence !
Careful not to allow yourself to get worked up to the point of violence!
Il se pompe tellement à chaque fois qu'il la voit avec son nouveau cavalier.
He gets so worked up each time he sees her with her new boyfriend.
Manquer un bardeau = to Be missing a shingle
expression/saying
There are lots of variations on this expression in English often varying from region to region:
"The lights are on, but nobody's home." "He's a taco short of a combo platter." "The elevator doesn't go all the way to the top floor." "She's not the brightest bulb on the tree." "He's a few bricks short of a load." …
Parfois des atrocités inexplicables ont lieu causées par une personne qui manque un bardeau.
Sometimes unexplainable atrocities take place caused by a person who's missing a shingle.
lundi le 25, juillet, 2011
Casse-croûte = Snack bar
noun: masculine, singular
With wave after wave of record heat and humidity torturing the North-American Continent this summer no doubt many of you have hit the beach. Whether it's a reservoir in Oklahoma, one of the 10,000 lakes of Minnesota or the Jersey Shore, quite often the beach is also equipped with a snack bar, complete with summertime essentials like: la crème glacée, la liqueur, des bonbons and quite often des rôteux.
Unlike the French who have borrowed "le snack bar" from English, Canadians have taken the word "casse-croûte," which means "snack" in Europe, and reassigned its meaning into popular usage. "Le snack bar" is understood, but not used in French Canada. (For snack, the ordinary word in Québec is "collation.")
Il y avait une filée de 180 personnes au casse-croûte à la plage à Marquette cet après-midi lors de leur dévoilement d'un nouveau type de crème glacée au chocolat.
Jacques & Paul
lundi le 18, juillet, 2011
EN VACANCES !
Back next week… | De retour la semaine prochaine…
lundi le 11, juillet, 2011
Poucer = to Hitchhike / to Thumb (it)
verb
Il a poucé tout à travers le pays cet été.
He hitchhiked all across the country this summer.
Arrière-cour = Backyard
noun: feminine, singular
On a passé beaucoup de temps cet été dans l'arrière-cour : à travailler dans le jardin, à faire des barbecues avec des amis et à regarder folâtrer les lapins sur le gazon.
We've spent a lot of time in the backyard this summer: working in the garden, doing BBQs with friends and watching the rabbits frolicking on the lawn.
Jacques & Paul
lundi le 4, juillet, 2011
Ciné-parc
noun: masculine, singular
Even as a beginner in French, see if you can figure this term out without a dictionary or Google's assistance. Think: summer, movie, outdoors, automobile, circa 1950. OK, I've all but blurted it out.
Although drive-ins are few and far between nowadays, this is still a great piece of Americana that you should try to experience at least once in your lifetime.
The first time I used this term with a Frenchman, you could see the split-second pause on his face as the rest of my statement confirmed what I was indeed talking about.
Vendredi soir, toute la gang est allée au ciné-parc Stardust pour voir le film classique « Star Wars ». On a pris le char à Marc à cause qu’il a une décapotable. Quelle soirée amusante !
Friday night (evening), the whole gang went to the Stardust drive-in to see the classic film "Star Wars." We took Mark's car because he's got a convertible. What a fun evening !
If you haven’t done so already, check out the list of Canadian/Quebec films that was recently added to the Resources page.
Happy Fourth of July!
Bon Quatre Juillet !
Bonne Fête de l'Indépendance !
Happy Independence Day!
lundi le 27, juin, 2011
With two big national holidays approaching in North America and on the heels of la Saint-Jean, don your sun-screen lotion, pour the lemonade, and light the charcoal! It's time for a little summertime outdoor fun. Here's a short list of must-know nouns for summer in Quebec/Canada… all three days of it!
gougounes | grillade | limonade | liqueur | melon d'eau | rôteux |
feminine, plural | feminine, singular | feminine, singular | feminine, singular | masculine, singular | masculine, singular |
flip-flops | cook-out | lemonade | pop | watermelon | hotdog |
Gougounes
Flip-flops—Inexpensive footwear with the V-strap that fits between your big toe and its neighbor. Typically you find these at places like Target, K-mart, Zellers, or Wal-Mart… Many folks wear these all summer long because they slip on so easily and are ready to go! Most European French speakers would be clueless as to the meaning of this word unless revealed by context.
Je porte mes gougounes partout : à la plage, à des grillades, au parc, et même en église lorsqu’il y a un service en plein air.
Grillade (en plein air)
Cook-out [Cookout]—Most of the time the same thing as a barbecue, although in English a cook-out would technically not have to include something cooked on a grill. A big pot of soup on an open fire could be considered a cookout. Grillade implies, as you might have guessed, something that’s cooked on a grill.
On a invité des amis chez nous samedi soir pour une grillade.
Limonade
Lemonade—The French use the word “citronnade,” which is perfectly logical; however, that word is very rarely heard in Canada despite the word for lemon “citron.” And since we’re on the subject of citrus fruit, a “lime” in France is a “citron vert,” whereas in Canada it is a “lime” and often “limette” so as not to be confused with the word “lime,” which means “file” (the tool used to take a rough edge off of something, for example).
Liqueur
“Pop” if you’re from the Upper Midwest stretching eastward to and including Western New York State; “Soda” if you’re from elsewhere. (I’m told somewhere in the South of the U.S. it’s also referred to as “Coke” regardless of flavor.) Not a term readily understood by your average Frenchman unless visual aids are present.
Le casse-croûte dans le parc vous offre un grand assortiment de liqueurs : Coke, Sprite, Dr. Pepper, 7up, Pepsi, Orange Crush, Mt. Dew…
When clarification is necessary to distinguish "pop" from "liquor," you say the following: liqueur douce / liqueur forte respectively. I'm going to take advantage of this opportunity to also point out that this is a great example of when cultural awareness intertwines with language. A Quebecois saying to another Quebecois: "Va quérir de la liqueur à l'IGA, s'il vous plait", is asking for what? Pop? Liquor? Well, you can buy a case of Tremblay Beer at an IGA, but beer is not considered liquor; it's beer. IGAs don't' carry spirits or hard liquor, so… the meaning is made clear by cultural awareness. Provincial laws that dictate what and where something can be sold is part of the culture.
Melon d'eau
Watermelon—You may have learned the word “pastèque”; that term is understood, but “melon d’eau” is much more commonly heard. And a visitor from France would also understand “melon d’eau,” of course.
Rôteux
Hotdog [Hot-dog]—Although the word “hotdog” has become more and more commonly heard in Canada by French speakers, it’s not a word you’ll find me promoting on this site. Even the old term “chien chaud” is preferable to “le hot-dog.” “Chien chaud” seems to have fallen into less and less use these days. Notice that “x” on “rôteux,” it’s there all the time, singular or plural.
Les rôteux sont après cuire sur le barbecue.
Happy 4th of July! Happy Canada Day!
lundi le 20, juin, 2011
« Paul, embarque dans mon char; on se dirige vers la Vieille Capitale pour fêter la Saint-Jean avec une couple de tchommes biéreux à moé ! »
Not necessarily a sentence to be shouted out across the yard within parental earshot, but I'm willing to bet it's been done. This contrived sentence gives us a chance to examine two terms: la Vieille Capitale and biéreux.
La Vieille Capitale is Quebec City's nickname, just as you learned a few weeks ago Toronto's nickname, "la Ville Reine." Both nicknames have a slight political charge to them in case you didn't notice.
Quebeckers love the noun/adjective ending "eux." They create all kinds of words with it that you will never find in any dictionary. "Biéreux" is a great example. If you drink beer, you're a beer drinker, a buveur de bière or more commonly stated a biéreux. And yes, there's a feminine form also for those gals fond of a good barley pop, "biéreuse."
It's strictly coincidental, of course, that when I spun the wheel of terms for this week that these two words came up, which happens to be the week of la Saint-Jean also known as la Fête Nationale. (Oops! More political charge. If life didn't involve politics, wouldn't it be boring?)
Politics is a big deal everywhere, but it's very much a huge Québécitude (Quebec thing) in Quebec. And la Saint-Jean c'est vraiment une Québécitude.
Buvez intelligemment ! Fêtez bien !
Vive le Québec ! Vive la Différence !
Cliquez dessus Click above
lundi le 13, juin, 2011
Drapeau = Flag
noun: masculine, singular
Flag Day is this Tuesday in the U.S., which makes a nice segue into presenting a little info about two Canadian flags.
As you may know, the word for flag in French is drapeau, which is a masculine noun. You may also be familiar with two other key words: fleur de lys and feuille. You say:
la fleur-de-lys [fleur-de-lis, fleurdelys, fleurdelis] (There are various spellings, the -lis variation being more recent. Regardless of spelling, the final "s" is always pronounced.)
la feuille as in "feuille d'érable" (mapleleaf)
You'll note that both these words are feminine. If you asked a U.S. high-school or college student to tell you in French how to refer to the respective flags of Canada and the Province of Quebec, they would undoubtedly tell you: "Le drapeau canadien et le drapeau québécois." And YES, that would be accurate; however, just as we in the U.S. refer to our flag as "Old Glory," these two Canadian flags also have nicknames.
le drapeau canadien | l'Unifolié | the Mapleleaf |
le drapeau québécois | le Fleurdelisé | the Fleurdelisé |
Note that both of these terms are masculine because of their association with the word "drapeau."
The archives of Radio Canada have a very interesting video clip (in French) on the history of l'Unifolié found here: http://archives.radio-canada.ca/politique/national/clips/100/
So now going forward as a speaker of Canadian French, you know to refer to these two flags by their respective names and not simply "le drapeau blablabla."
Bonne Fête du Drapeau !
Jacques
lundi le 6, juin, 2011
Bébite / Bibitte = Bug
noun: feminine, singular
"We just took a walk in the woods. It was beautiful, but the insects were everywhere!"
"We just took a walk in the woods. It was beautiful, but the bugs were everywhere!"
What's the difference in the two statements above? As a North-American Anglophone, which word are you more likely to use? Same is true in North-American French.
Les tiques, les maringouins, les brûlots et les mouches à cheval sont tous des bébites qui rendent l'été moins agréable.
It is still important to know the French word "insecte" as the above statement would not necessarily reveal by context what you are talking about if you found yourself in a conversation with someone from France. I've found that this is not a word most French people have heard unless they've come to Canada on a fishing expedition.
Jacques
lundi le 30, mai, 2011
| Sus / Chez = | to/at __________ 's |
| to/at the place of __________ |
preposition
(Although classified by many dictionaries as just a preposition, this word really requires special attention.)
Almost everyone has seen or heard the French word "chez." It's quite often used as part of a restaurant's name, like "Chez Jacques," meaning "Jacques' place." It's a handy little word that is most often used to translate someone's name with an apostrophe "s" attached to it as in the following statement:
I'm going over to Bob's for supper. | Je m'en vais chez Bob pour souper.
Canadian French offers you yet another choice. The word "sus" (pronounced "su") is used like "chez," but is much more commonly used outside of Montreal and in rural settings.
I'm going over to Bob's for supper. | Je m'en vais sus Bob pour souper.
Bob's? The Francophone would ask; Bob's… what?
This sounds incomplete to the Francophone's ear. What we are really saying in English is: "I'm going over to Bob's place for supper." The word "place" is understood.
Replacing Nouns with Pronouns
As you may know, we use pronouns in language to replace nouns that we don't want to repeat over and over again. Here's an example. As a normal conversion in English would go, Column A sounds a little awkward; Column B sounds more authentic:
Column A | Column B | |
Eileen: | I'm going over to Bob's for supper. | I'm going over to Bob's for supper. |
Pierre: | I'm going over to Bob's for supper too. | I'm going over to his place for supper too. |
Claire: | Me too! I've never been over to Bob's before. | Me too! I've never been over to his place before. |
Antoine: | They just delivered a new stove to Bob's yesterday. | They just delivered a new stove to his place yesterday. |
Eileen: | I just hope they've fixed the holes in the parking lot at Bob's. | I just hope they've fixed the holes in the parking lot at his place. |
There's no need to repeat "to Bob's" or "at Bob's" over and over again. Pronouns and pronoun-like substitutions allow you to avoid that. How does this work now in Canadian French? Once again, a chart might be the best way to illustrate usage in French (and English).
Chez | Sus | English |
chez Marie | sus Marie | to/at Mary's |
chez elle | - | to/at her place |
chez Jacques | sus Jacques | to/at Jacques' |
chez lui | - | to/at his place |
chez les Tremblay | sus les Tremblay | to/at the Tremblay's |
chez mes parents | sus mes parents | to/at my parent's |
chez eux | - | to/at their place |
Memory-Aid Tidbit
So it appears English has its little idiosyncrasy requiring you to use the word "place" when a pronoun-like substitution is used, and…
French has its little idiosyncrasy requiring you to exclusively use the word "chez"—and not the word "sus"—when a pronoun is used.
And ultimately, if this is too much to remember, you don't HAVE to use the word "sus" at all, if you don't want to, but you need to know that it exists and how it functions.
Other Meanings
Finally, the word "chez" used as a "preposition" has other meanings that you'll find in any dictionary; however the word "sus" used as a preposition is limited to what you've learned above.
Jacques et Paul
lundi le 23, mai, 2011
Two Things…
• One of the most important things about the ToutCanadien web site is accuracy.
• One of the most common things about knowing a language is overlooking the obvious; that is, when something is so close to you, you sometimes don't see what's right there in front of your face.
In essence, that's what happened with last week's posting. So I am redirecting you to review last week's posting again as it's been updated.
Jacques
La Ville Reine = The Queen City (Toronto)
noun: feminine, singular
Today is Victoria Day across Canada, the long-weekend spring holiday Canadians look forward to; a holiday that "kind of" kicks off the unofficial start to the summer season. U.S. Americans do the same this coming weekend with Memorial Day next Monday. The Canadian holiday gets its name from a well-known English queen, which brings to mind Toronto's nickname. "The Queen City." Quebec City also has a nickname, which you'll learn about next month.
lundi le 16, mai, 2011
Bout / But / Tout / Août - Final "T"
pronunciation
One of the more difficult sounds to form for the Anglophone (English-speaker) is the French "u" sound as in the word "tu." Here are two words, similar in pronunciation. The main point I want to make here is this; listen carefully for that French "u" sound versus the "ou" sound. Why? Because whether you are chatting with a Canadian or a Frenchman, it is that "u" sound—and not necessarily the "t" sound—that will reveal which word is intended (if not already clear by context).
le but (aim / goal / purpose)
le bout (end)
Canadian Pronunciation
bu
boutte
French Pronunciation
butte
bou
As you can see, where the "t" is pronounced is crisscrossed on the above chart and immediately reveals which variation of French you speak.
By the way, if you've been pronouncing this web site's name as "too-canadien," that's a no-no, a "faux-pas," a quasi-venial sin. The word "tout" is just like the word "bout"; pronounce that final "t" as a general rule! Of course, there are exceptions, as a good friend reminded me after first posting this:
"Tout le temps" is pronounced "Tout'l temps." The "t" is silent.
If the word "bout" precedes the word "de," the "t" is silent: "un bon bout de temps," "un bout de papier"
Just like the word "but," the word "août" is always pronounced without the "t" in Quebec. The French have a choice of pronouncing the "t" or not; the Quebecois never pronounce the "t." In addition, in some regions like La Beauce and Acadie, some people even pronounce the "a," so "août" sounds like "ah-ou." But in standard Quebec French, that "a" remains silent.
There are several words in Canadian French where that final "t" is pronounced, whereas in European French it remains silent. This is a carryover from "Old French" that has been retained on our side of the Atlantic. The few examples provided here are just a sampling to introduce you to this reality. The ToutCanadien vocab lists always indicate when a final "t" is pronounced because as a general rule, you know that only the following consonants are pronounced in French: CaReFuL and a pronounced "t" would be an exception to this general rule.
lundi le 9, mai, 2011
Espadrilles = Sneakers
noun: feminine, plural
Brun = Brown
adjective: masculine
Put on your "espadrilles," get out and take a walk because fresh green plant life is finally returning to the surface of North America and all the "brun" is disappearing slowly but surely.
"Espadrilles" is the all-purpose word for "sneakers," often called "tennis shoes" as well. If you were to say "chaussure (de) tennis," one would take you literally; that is, a shoe designed specifically for playing tennis. To make this just a little more complicated, "chaussure (de) tennis," is what you'd find in the Sears catalog, but on the street and everywhere else, you'd hear "soulier de tennis." The word "chaussure" is not used nearly as much in Canada.
"Brun" is the all-purpose word for "brown" in Québec while the French use both "brun" and "marron" depending on what they are describing. "Marron" in Québec means "chestnut" and is not used except to describe that particular shade of brown.
lundi le 2, mai, 2011
Salut ! = Hi! / Bye!
exclamation/greeting
On a Downtown Montréal corner waiting for his girlfriend to pick him up after work, Jacques has a very quick exchange with two buddies of his.
Jacques:
Salut les gars ! On va-tu au match ce soir ? | Hi guys! We going to the game tonight?
Robert:
Ouain ! J'ai les billets. | Yup! I've got the tickets.
Pierre:
Je peux chauffer cette fois. | I can drive this time.
Jacques:
Tiguidou ! Merci, Pierre ! | Awesome! Thanks, Pierre!
Pierre:
Pas de problème. | No problem.
Jacques:
OK… Ah, voilà Monica. OK, me faut partir. Merci encore les gars ! À tantôt.
OK… Ah, there's Monica. OK, gotta go. Thanks again guys! Later.Robert/Pierre:
Salut ! | Bye!
Just like you learned back in March with the word "Bonjour," the word "Salut" is also used for "comings and goings." This doesn't mean you won't hear an occasional "Au revoir," but a simple "Salut" is much more common.
lundi le 25, avril, 2011
une couple de ______ = a couple of ______
set/fixed phrase
En envoyant un courriel à un ami un dimanche matin, j'ai utilisé l'expression "une couple d'heures" dans une de mes phrases. Tout à coup, ça m'a rappelé un commentaire que j'ai entendu d'une vieille dame, toute souriante, originaire du nord de la France. J'aimerais bien le partager avec nos lecteurs.
Those of you reading this site are probably wondering: "Hmm….! Why 'une couple de' for the Word of the Week? Isn't that THREE words? What's up with that?!" Well, here's a true story about something I heard during my College years (at an American University) that will explain everything.
During a fairly informal (but still dignified) conversation with an elderly woman from France, I used the expression une couple d'années. The woman's reaction was "typically French." She said: "Cette expression que vous venez d'utiliser est correcte, mais ça ne se dit plus aujourd'hui!" ("That expression you just used is correct, but nobody says it anymore nowadays!") How wrong she was!
The French may consider it "archaic" and your Larousse may label it "literary," but in Québec, (and in other Canadian French-speaking communities), WE say it ALL THE TIME!
Note a grammatical distinction here!
UN COUPLE (masculine) = A married couple or two lovers.
UNE COUPLE DE (feminine) = A couple of days, weeks, months, years, dollars, experiences, or whatever you may find yourself referring to at any point and time.
Finally, "une couple de" is not an Anglicism. I'll just bet you can guess where English got the expression from!
Paul
lundi le 18, avril, 2011
Bonbons haricots = Jelly Beans
noun: masculine, plural
Joyeuses Pâques à tout le monde ! Mangez pas trop de bonbons haricots et n'oubliez pas la vraie raison pour cette fête printanière !
lundi le 11, avril, 2011
J'ai mon voyage ! = I've had it!
expression/saying
Si vous êtes français(e), notre expression "J'AI MON VOYAGE !" est l'équivalent de votre "J'EN AI MARRE !"
If you are an English speaker, "J'ai mon voyage !" means "I've HAD it!" If you are fluent in European French, you are almost certainly familiar with "J'en ai marre !" That expression is understood, but not used by Québécois French speakers. "J'ai mon voyage !" is used instead… and it means exactly the same thing.
(I have not yet been able to find the etymology of this saying and when I do, I will repost this.)
lundi le 4, avril, 2011
s'Encabaner = to Burrow in / to Hole up
verb
Que je suis tanné d'être encabané tout l'hiver !
How tired I am of being holed-up all winter!
Frisquet, Frisquette = Chilly
adjective: masculine, feminine, singular
Ça se réchauffe, petit-à-petit, mais il fait toujours trop frisquet pour sortir en gougounes.
It's warming up, little by little, but it's still too chilly to go out in flip-flops.
Chialer = to Whine / to Gripe
verb
Presque tout le monde chiale quand il neige 6 pouces en avril couvrant les petits crocus et les tulipes qui sont pour éclore à tout moment. Mais ça c'est avril dans le Grand Nord Blanc !
About this time of the year, I know that many conversations in Minnesota—and I'm assuming the rest of the North—could be summarized by the use of this one single verb… and with good reason.
lundi le 28, mars, 2011
SPRING BREAK!
Back next week…
lundi le 21, mars, 2011
Bon matin ! = Good morning!
exclamation/greeting
Just like North-American English, Canadian French often is more aware of the time of day where greetings are concerned than its European counterpart.
Bonjour ! = Hello! / Good-bye! / Good day! / Good morning!
exclamation/greeting
The all-purpose greeting. Yes, in Canada, "Bonjour" can also mean "Good-bye." You are much more likely to hear a "Bonjour" upon leaving a store, shop or restaurant in Quebec than an "Au revoir."
lundi le 14, mars, 2011
Chaudrée = Chowder
noun: feminine, singular
La chaudrée commence à bouillir dans le chaudron… et ça sent ben bon !
The start of Lent last week brings to mind a uniquely Québécois term, "la chaudrée." Chaudrée means chowder. Don't be fooled by any definition you may find in your Petit Robert or your Larousse; in Canada, chaudrée means chowder, end of discussion. This word is very much alive and in use in Quebec and especially on Îles de la Madeleine where fishermen are numerous.
The tradition of eating fish on Fridays during Lent comes in many forms, this being just one of them. A few types of chowder would be:
chaudrée aux fruits de mer (seafood)
chaudrée au poisson (fish)
chaudrée aux palourdes (hard-shell clam)
chaudrée de myes (soft-shell clam)
chaudrée de myes Manhattan
Ever notice how all chowders (chaudrées) are always HOT (chaudes)? What are the chances the word "chowder" comes from "chaudrée," which in turn may stem from the word "chaudron" (pot/kettle)?
Bordages = Snowbanks
noun: masculine, plural
Les bordages ont atteint une hauteur de 7 pieds cette saison ! Assez de neige !
Snowbanks, but more specifically the type that the snowplow leaves on both sides of the street or road as it passes.
lundi le 7, mars, 2011
Mieux vaut tard que jamais ! = Better late than never!
expression/saying
Heure avancée = Daylight Savings Time
noun: feminine, singular
French Canadians just say it the way it is—short, sweet and simple—instead of trying to wrap it in a bow and pretty paper by calling it "daylight savings" in order to sell the concept like we do in the States.
s'Enneiger = to Get snowed in
verb
Je me suis enneigé plusieurs fois cet hiver ce qui m'a causé d'utiliser malheureusement quelques jours de congé.
There's a good word to know for the month of March, often times the snowiest month of the winter in many parts of the U.S.A. Those of you reading this from the Snow Belt, where lake-effect snow easily dumps two feet or more at a time on cities like Cleveland, are probably thinking you could have used this word 40 times already this winter of 2011.
Carême = Lent
noun: masculine, singular
Mi-carême = "Mid-Lent"
noun: feminine, singular
Mais pourquoi le mot « carême » est au masculin et le terme « mi-carême » au féminin ? Très bonne question !!!! Voilà un très bon exemple du manque de logique qui peut exister en ce qui concerne le genre.
Lent starts this week for most Christians. It's a period of 40 days of fasting, reflection, penance and eating a lot of pancakes and scrambled eggs on Fridays if you're a practicing Roman Catholic. Everyone knows what Mardi Gras is, that wild and crazy day right before the solemnity of Ash Wednesday. The season of Lent is kind of "bookended" by the festivities of Mardi Gras and Easter and fortunately for us French Canadians, we have something called "Mi-carême," a little break in the middle of it all. This was a good thing in bygone days when the sacrifices of Lent were much more strict than they are today. Today, we really do not know sacrifice like our ancestors knew it.
lundi le 28, février, 2011
« Mets-toé dans mes bottines ! » = "Put yourself in my shoes!"
expression/saying
« Mets-toé dans mes bottines ! » = « Mets-toi à ma place ! » Or, in English, "Put yourself in my shoes!"
Note that in French, bottines is emphasized more than any other word in that sentence. English speakers are more likely to emphasize my instead. This is a good example of the difference between American English and Canadian French intonation.
Note the vernacular pronunciation toé for toi in that expression. This vernacular pronunciation (which is also heard when people say moé for moi ) was used by the vast majority of French colonists who came to Québec. It is still widely heard informally in Québec, and it is not unknown in France (Normandy) as many Parisians would have you believe.
Tanné de… = Sick of…
adjective: masculine
Que chu tanné de c't'hiver ! = Que je suis tanné de cet hiver !
Regardless of how you say it, everyone will nod their head in agreement. "Sick of" in this sense means "tired of" or "fed-up with," but not literally sick from, say, having eaten something bad.
lundi le 21, février, 2011
Claques = Galoshes / Rubbers / Overshoes
noun: feminine, plural
Quand il pleut, les sages mettent des claques sur les souliers habillés avant de sortir.
When it rains, the wise put on galoshes over their dress shoes before going out.
Never been to the OQLF (Office Québécois de la Langue Française)?
Go to "Le grand dictionnaire terminologique" and therein look up the word claque. This is a good example of how useful this site can be to find the meaning of a Canadian French term. You won't find everything there, but if you are serious about learning CANADIAN French, it's always a good place to start.
Not being a fan of the Académie Française, I once wrote to a college professor in France to find out if there might be another option, something like the OQLF, that the French use. He wrote me back stating, "Yeah, it's called the Internet and the OQLF!"
lundi le 14, février, 2011
Être en amour avec… = to Be in love with…
expression/saying
Ces deux-là sont en amour avec l'un l'autre depuis leur toute première rencontre.
Those two have been in love since their very first encounter.
The origins of this expression are often disputed. Some consider this a "Frenchified" Anglicism; others say it's from Old French. Ultimately, it really doesn't matter as it's a North-American way of thinking in French. After all, if you can be "en colère" (in anger) with someone, why couldn't you be "en amour" with someone?
Blonde = Girlfriend
noun: feminine, singular
Sa blonde a les plus beaux cheveux bruns bouclés que j'ai jamais vus !
His/Her girlfriend has the loveliest curly brown hair I've ever seen.
Confused? In Canada, your "girlfriend" doesn't necessarily need to be blond to be called your "blonde." The use of this word in this context comes from Old French. Some of you may be familiar with the folk song, "Auprès de ma blonde." This is not a Quebecois song per se; it comes from long long ago in France.
Analogy
Careful! Before you utter something shortsighted like, "Well, that's really stupid/weird/illogical!" Consider the following:
French has a singular "you" (tu) and a plural "you" (vous). Except in the South where "y'all" prevails, many Americans use the term "you guys" to make up for our lack of a plural "you" in our language. The word "guys" in that term does not always refer to just boys or men; it may also include females! Don't think that THAT isn't confusing to non-English speakers! (Wouldn't it just be a whole lot easier if we resurrected the word "ye" and threw out "you guys" altogether?)
Chum / Tchomme = Boyfriend / Buddy
noun: masculine, singular
Jacques va sortir avec son chum au lieu de sa blonde la soirée de la Saint-Valentin.
And talk about confusion! So in the above sentence, is Jacques "batting for both teams" (not that there's anything wrong with that!) or is Jacques going out with a buddy for a brew after work because his brunette girlfriend happens to be out of town on business?
In the rare event that you'll need to make such a distinction, here's another (perhaps better) word to use for "boyfriend."
Cavalier = Boyfriend
noun: masculine, singular
Son cavalier a oublié de lui donner une carte, mais le restaurant qu'il a choisi était tiguidou !
Her/his boyfriend forgot to give her/him a card, but the restaurant he chose was awesome!
Farauder = to Date
verb
Il est important de farauder plus d'une personne avant de se marier.
It's important to date more than one person before getting married.
Bec = Kiss / Peck
noun: masculine, singular
Coudons ! Donne-s-y un 'tit bec !
Come on! Give 'im a little peck/kiss!
Come on! Give 'er a little peck/kiss!
lundi le 7, février, 2011
On est mieux en bas de laine qu'en bas de zéro !
expression/saying
Can you figure out the play on words here?
Rough translation: "You're better off in wool stockings than in below zero (weather)."
Étatsunien, Étatsunienne = American (U.S. American)
noun: masculine, feminine, singular
Lincoln fut un fameux Étatsunien travaillant qui finit par donner sa vie pour son pays.
Seeing how Lincoln's birthday falls this week, I thought it appropriate to introduce this term as Lincoln was truly a great American who lived in very very stressful times.
French-speaking Canadians tend to be more cautious about using the term "Américain" too loosely; after all, Canadians are technically Americans also. The problem is in English we really have not taken the time to develop a term to better identify our COUNTRY of origin. Remember that "American," just like the word, "European" first refers to the CONTINENT from which a person originates; however, the word "American" also refers to a specific country on that continent—the United States of America. I suppose to get around this in English, when we specifically need to refer to the continent we'll say, "North-American."
As you might have guessed by now by dissecting the word "Étatsunien," it is a creative and accurate way to distinguish between the two shades of meaning that the word "American" has in English. This term is also used in France, but not nearly as much.
Travaillant = Hard-working
adjective: masculine, singular
Jacques est travaillant et dévoué au site ToutCanadien.
Jacques is hard-working and dedicated to the ToutCanadien site.
La bonne bière coule à flot !
expression/saying
A good expression for people in a partying mood, couler à flot means "to flow freely." This expression is very slangy and normally has a very friendly feel to it. Words can couler à flot also, when being used by people with the gift of gab. Perhaps this was your experience at a recent Super Bowl party!
lundi le 31, janvier, 2011
It's Super Bowl week! Not a huge deal in Canada, but certainly a big deal for a lot of Franco-Americans. Here's just a few sporting-event-related terms in the event you find yourself at a Franco-American Super Bowl party and can't say anything intelligent about the game… Dazzle them with your vocabulary!
Croustilles = Chips
noun: feminine, plural
La plupart des croustilles sont faites de patates tranchées finement ou de maïs et parfois de riz.
European French speakers have borrowed chips from American English, but the Canadian French-speaking community has coined the word croustilles, from the word croustillant which means crunchy.
Trempette = Dip
noun: feminine, singular
La trempette n'est pas essentielle de servir avec les croustilles, mais pourquoi pas ?!
Dip isn't essential to serve with chips, but why not?!
Broue = Brew / Brewski (beer)
noun: feminine, singular
Passe-moé encore une broue Tremblay, s'il te plait !
Good word to know in the rare event you should happen across any beer at a Super Bowl party.
Bourrasser = to Rough up
verb
Something that happens a lot in contact sports, intentionally or not.
Pointage = Score
noun: masculine, singular
Quel est le pointage ?
As a side note, like English, this word's meaning has also been extended into the world of credit cards; that is, your "Credit Score."
Blanchissage = Shutout
noun: masculine, singular
Pointage 0-20, vraiment un blanchissage pour les _______________________ (Steelers, Packers) !
Not likely to happen, but HAS happened.
lundi le 24, janvier, 2011
Atchoumer = to Sneeze
verb
There's a lot of this going on right now where I work. Perhaps you're noticing the same thing.
This word is a lot easier to say than "éternuer," which is the word/verb you'll usually hear. Not only does it roll off the tongue more easily, but it's a more colorful and fun word to use.
Santé to you and yours!
lundi le 17, janvier, 2011
Assermentation = Swearing-in
noun: feminine, singular
Many newly elected public officials take office about this time of the year across the United States. Most of the time there is a swearing-in ceremony of some sort.
Rondelle = Puck
noun: feminine, singular
"A good hockey player shares the puck with his teammates so everyone gets in on the action and fun." If the team captain of the Habs were to make this statement at a Paris news conference, the entire room would either burst into laughter or stand there with their jaws dropped. Why? Find out in the newly posted document: "What's the Difference?"
lundi le 10, janvier, 2011
Restants = Leftovers
noun: masculine, plural
Il n'y a pas de restants dans le Frigidaire, il faudra commander une pizza ce soir !
By now you probably have eaten all the holiday leftovers. If not, "When in doubt, throw it out!" is what Mémère used to say.
Barauder = to Skid
verb
En baraudant comme ça, il a causé un accident qui a fini par bloquer la route pendant des heures.
What happens when you drive to fast on icy roads.
lundi le 3, janvier, 2011
Tourtière = Meat Pie
noun: feminine, singular
Tourtière is a very French word, but its meaning changed in Québec for historical reasons. In France, une tourtière is a pie plate. But, in Québec, une tourtière refers to a meat pie generally made with minced pork, potatoes, chopped onions, cloves, and seasoned to your family's individual taste. Some say that it was originally made with pigeons known as "des tourtes," but that these pigeons became extinct and farmers began making these delicious meat pies with pork.
Poudrerie = Snow Flurries
noun: feminine, singular
From the French word poudre, which means "powder."
Bordée = Snow Storm
noun: feminine, singular
A snow storm, especially a blizzard. Far more expressive sounding than "une tempête"!
You've Had it, Charlie Brown
