English loanwords (Anglicisms)[edit]

There are a number of English loanwords in joual, although they have been stigmatized since the 1960s:[5] Their
usage varies both regionally and historically.

 Bécosse: From backhouse, used generally in the sense of a bathroom. Unlike most borrowing, this one can
sometimes be seen written, usually as shown here.
 Bicycle or bécik: Bicycle
 Bike or bécik: Motorbike
 Bines: Beans
 Braker: pronounced [bʁeke]. Verb meaning "to brake".
 Breakeur: Circuit breaker (disjoncteur). Still very often used nowadays.
 Bum: Bum
 Bumper: Bumper
 Caller: [kɑle]. Verb meaning to phone someone.
 Checker or chequé: Verb meaning to check something (out), as in "Check ben ça" ("Check this out.")
 Coat: Winter jacket (only for the clothing item), never in the sense of "layer".
 Chum: [tʃɔm]. Most often in the sense of boyfriend, often simply as a male friend of a male.
 Dash: dashboard
 Dumper: [dõpe]. To throw in the trash, to deposit something, or to break up with someone. --Usually actually
spelled and pronounced "domper". (In hockey, domper la puck: to dump the puck)
 Enfirouaper: To cheat someone. This comes from "in fur wrap". Centuries ago, fur traders would sell a ballot
of fur, actually filled with cardboard in the middle.[6]
 Flat: A flat tire, called une crevaison in Standard French. Can also mean a belly flop.
 Frencher: [fʁɛntʃe]. To French-kiss.
 Hood: Carhood
 Lift: Previously used only in the sense of giving a lift to someone in one's vehicle, now used to designate any
kind of lift.
 Mossel: Muscle.
 Peppermint, usually pronounced like paparman or "peperman"
 Pinotte: Peanuts. Unlike most other borrowings, this one is sometimes seen written, usually spelled like
here. (also a street slang for amphetamines)
 les States: [le stei̯ t]. Used when referring to the USA.
 Tinque : Usually [tẽːk]. Used in the sense of "container": Tinque à gaz [fuel tank].
 Toaster: [tostɚ]. Toaster.
 Tough: [tɔf]. Tough.
 Truck: [tʁɔk]. Truck.
 Trunk: pronounced tRung. Car trunk
 Suit: suit.
 Ski-doo: Snowmobile (based on Bombardier's Ski-Doo brand).
 Skring : Window screen
 Windshield: pronounced win-sheel. windshield
Some words were also previously thought to be of English origin, although modern research has shown them to be
from regional French dialects:

 Pitoune (log, cute girl, loose girl): previously thought to come from "happy town" although the word
"pitchoune" exists in dialects from southern France (possibly coming from the Occitan word "pichona", "little girl")
and means "cute girl".
 Poutine: was thought to come from "pudding", but some have drawn a parallel with the occitan term
"podinga", a stew made of scraps, which was (in Montreal) the previous use of the term.

Glossary[edit]
Joual French English
 toi (from classic
toé French you (singular, oblique)
pronunciation of toi)

moi (from classic

French
moé me
pronunciation of
moi)

pis, pis quoi et puis, puis quoi and then, So what

moé j'vo [ʒvɔ] moi je vais I will, I am going

Çé c'est It is

Lé Les The (plural)

Ço [sɔ] Ça That

Po [pɔ] Pas Not

Lo [ʟɔ] Là There

j'fa, j'fasse, je fasse je fais I am doing

Of the (feminine), from the

D'la De la (feminine), some (feminine),
a quantity of (feminine)

té, t'es tu es you are

Yé Il est He is,it is

tsé (tsé là), t'sais tu sais you know

je s'ré je serai I will be

j'cres, j'cré je crois I believe

pas du tout (de pas

pantoute not at all
en tout)

y il he

a, a'l'o elle, elle a she, she has

ouais or ouin oui yeah, yep

y'o [jɔ] il y a, il a there is, he has

toul', tou'l' tout le all of the

icitte ici here

well / very / many

ben bien
(contextual)

bengadon, ben r'gardon, ben

bien regarde-donc well look at
gardon

Ga don ço, gadon ço,

Regarde donc ça Look at that
r'gardon ço

su, d'su, de su sur,dessus on,over top of

su la sur la on the (feminine)

su'l sur le on the (masculine)


anyway, en tout co [ã tu̥ kɔ],
entouco, entéco, ent'lé co
in any case, however,
anyway (from English
en tout cas, en tous
"anyway" addition of this
les cas
word is non-ubiquitous, but
en tout co has broad usage)

Aweille ! , Enweille ! Bouge ! Move!

send,go on, get, git,

enweille,àweille envoy, allez,
skedaddle (contextual)

enweille don, àweille don envoy donc, allez come on

faite, fette saoul drunk

fette, faite, té faite fini, tu es fini finished, you are finished

nuitte nuit night

ti / 'tite, p'tite petit / petite small (masculine / feminine)

déhor, d'wor, dewor, dowor dehors outside, get out (contextual)

end, tip, bit (un ti boutte = un

boutte (masculine) bout petit bout = a little bit or a
little while)

toutte tout everything, all, the whole

litte lit bed

tusuite,tudsuite, tud'suite,
tout de suite right now
tu'd'suite, toud'suite
astheure, asteur maintenant,
now, currently, from now on
(from "à cette heure") couramment

han ? hein ? eh? huh? or what?

heille hé hey

frette froid cold

fà fait make/do

s'fèque,s'fà que, sfàk donc (ça fait que) so, therefore

lorsque (from old
mèk, mainque, main que French « mais as soon as, upon
que »)

dins,dan lé dans les in the (plural)

cé c'est, ceci est this is

c'pos, cé po, s'po[spɔ] ce n'est pas it's not

end'ssour, end'ssou en dessous under

s'assir, s'assoère s'asseoir to sit down

ak, ac, a'ec ,èk,èque avec with

boète [bwaɪ̯t] boîte box

ce soir (à soir is
à soère, à swère tonight
incorrect syntax)
 at some point, at any given
àmandonné, aman'né à un moment donné
time

bouette boue mud

c't'un,Çé t'un, s't'un c'est un it's a

ch't, j't, chus je suis (un) I am

garage (non-ubiquitous
garah, gararh garage
usage)

char automobile car,short for chariot

tarla, con, nono stupide dumb

mauvais gout
kétaine, quétaine tasteless, cheesy (fashion)
(Mode)

sissy, feminine male (can

fif, fifi éfféminé
also mean queer, derogatory)

queer, feminine male, male

homosexual or pre sex
tapette (une) pédé (un)
change male (all usage is
derogatory)

tall and skinny (from English

grand slack grand et mince
"slack")

smart (you are) (from English

smatte (té),smartte (té) intélligent
"smart")

cunt, whore, pussy, vagina

plotte chatte, vagin
(contextually derogatory)
 Cock, penis (graine is the
literal translation of the word
graine, grène pénis
seed, contextually
derogatory)

botare bâtard bastard

eulle l' le the

étchoeuré écœuré tired (annoyed)

t'su, d'su mettre sur put on

(you are) unexperienced

inexpérimenté (tu (being new, "green", to
vert (té)
es) something, vert is the literal
translation of the word green)

ass hole (contextually

troud'cu, trou'd'cu, trou d'cul enfoiré, trou de cul
derogatory)

camionnette, van (panel van, cargo van,

panel (un)
fourgon non-ubiquitous usage)

jarret, hârret mollet calf

twintails (non-ubiquitous
lulu mèche (deux)
usage)

Drette lo Ici même (droit là) Right there

Ça resemble à ça It looks like that

J'te dis Je te dis I tell you

J'toute fourré, j's'tout fourré,
schtout fourré
J'cogne des clous
Checke-moé le don,
Checke Fern, Checke checke
'Stacoze de'd, stacoze de,
C't-à-cause de,
'Stacé
Viarge
Grouille (toé)
ta yeul!, la yeul!, ferme ta
boète!, la ferme!, la farme!
Y pue d'la yeul (referring to a
human male, Y means Il
singular third person male
whereas A (pronounced à)
means Elle singular third
person female)
Chus dan marde
I'm so confused, I'm all
Je suis confus
fucked up
Je suis épuisé I'm so tired
Regarde le (donc)
Look at him
lui
Look at him/her/that or simply
look (gender neutral form,
Regarde ça/lui/elle,
contextual, non-ubiquitous
Regarde
usage, circa 1980s but still
holds meaning)
c'est à cause de it is because of
C'est assez That's enough
Putain ! Damn !
Dépêche-toi Hurry up
shut up!, shut your animal
tais-toi! fermé la
mouth! (derogatory), shut
gueule
your box! (derogatory)
(gueule directly translates to
animal mouth,hence the
Ça pue de la
He has a stinky animal sentence is derogatory if
gueule (animal), Il a
mouth, He has bad breath, relating to a human male.
la mauvaise haleine
He stinks from the mouth Pue is the literal translation of
(human male)
a conjugation of the verb to
stink)
Je suis dans le
pétrin (Je suis dans I'm in big trouble (I'm in shit)
la merde)
List of common sacres[edit]
These sacres are commonly given in a phonetic spelling to indicate the differences in pronunciation from the original
word, several of which, notably the deletion of final consonants and change of [ɛ] to [a] before /ʁ/ are typical of highly
informal Quebec French.

 baptême [bataɪ̯m]: "baptism"
 câlice [kɑːlɪs] (calice): "chalice"
 calvaire [kalvaɛ̯ʁ]: "Calvary"
 ciboire [sibwɑːʁ]: "ciborium" or "pyx", receptacles in which the host is stored
 criss [kʁɪs] (Christ): "Christ"
 maudit [moːd͡zi]: "damn"
 osti [ɔst͡si] (hostie): "host"
 sacrament [sakʁamɑ̃] (sacrement): "Sacrament"
 simonaque [simɔnak] (simoniaque): from the sin of simony
 tabarnak [tabaʁnak] (tabernacle): "tabernacle" (typically considered the most profane of the sacres)
 viarge [vjaʁʒ] (vierge): "the Virgin Mary"

Mild forms[edit]
Most sacres have modified, milder euphemistic forms (see minced oath). Such forms are not usually considered
nearly as rude as the original.[2] (An English language example of this would be to say "mad as heck" instead of "mad
as hell".) Many of the euphemistic forms are only similar-sounding to religious terms, so are considered not to
denigrate the Church.

 baptême: batince, batêche, bateau

 câlice: câline, câlif, câlique, câline de bine, câlibine, câlibouette
 calvaire: calvâce, calvince, calvinouche, calvinus, calvinice, calverace
 ciboire: cibolle, cibollaque, ciboulle, ciboulette, gériboire
 criss: cristie, crime, criff, cliss, christophe, Christophe Colomb, crimpuff (from the English "cream puff")
 maudit: maudine, mautadine, mautadit, mautadite, maustie
 osti: titi, estifie, ostifie, ostique, ostine
 sacrament: sac à papier, sacréfice, sacramouille, sacre bleu, Sacramento
 tabarnak: tabarnouche, batarnak (anagram  of tabarnak), tabarslaque, simonac, tabarouette, tabarnache,
barnac, tabarnane, taberolls, tabréré, tabebouts, tabebruns, tabergaut, tabertix, taberguermon, tabermeuns,
taberuph, tabermost, taberax, taberkalu, taberpuch, tabarlan, tabarlie, taberson, tabersiouf, taberboog,
taberkhalil, tabeurn, tabouère (merge of tabarnak and siboire), tabarnoune, tabarnanne
Also considered milder swears:

 bâtard: "bastard"
 toton: "boob", used to denote a complete idiot
 torrieu: (tort à Dieu) "harm to God"
 marde: (merde) "shit", used in conjunction with other words, sometimes swears: osti de marde, silo de
marde, tas de marde, mange donc un char de marde,pédale de marde, ciboulette de marde, or château de
marde, Internet de marde
Sometimes older people unable to bring themselves to swear with church words or their derivatives would make up
ostensibly innocuous phrases, such as cinq six boîtes de tomates vartes (literally, "five or six boxes of green
tomatoes", varte being slang for verte, "green"). This phrase when pronounced quickly by a native speaker sounds
like saint-siboire de tabarnak ("holy ciborium of the tabernacle"). Another example of a benign word that is church
sounding is coltord, which was simply an anglicism for "coal-tar", but pronounced just so, sounds as like a
merged câlice and tort ("harm").

Intricate forms[edit]
French-Canadian swear words can be combined into more powerful combinations to express extreme anger or
disgust.[2]These intricate uses of French profanities can be difficult to master. The combinations are endless; some
people in the French-Canadian community consider mixing and matching swear words to be a sort of skilled art.

 Mon tabarnak j'vais te décâlisser la yeule, câlice: Décâlisser means "to fuck up something"; yeule comes

from the derived noun gueule which refers to an animal's throat or maw but is used in joual to mean the human
mouth or face. The whole sentence can be summarized as "Hey fucker, I'm gonna punch your face in".
 Osti de tabarnak de câlice: Very strong expression of anger. Can also be used as a descriptive phrase
expressing anger or derision: Osti de tabarnak de câlice, c'est pas possible comment que t'es cave ("Bloody hell,
it's impossible how stupid you are.")
 Crisse de câlice de tabarnak d'osti de sacrament: Expressive of extreme anger.
 Crisse de câlice de tabarnak d'osti de sacrament de trou vierge: Expressive of most extreme anger.
 J'men calice: Denotes extreme apathy and suppressed anger, similar to English "I don't give a fuck". J'men
calice des politiciens: "I don't give a fuck about politicians."
 Osti d'épais de marde!: Expression of anger aimed at someone; épais is used as a derogatory term meaning
"idiot". Osti is used to convey extreme anger and de marde, which means "of shit" is used to place emphasis on
the idiocy of the person it is aimed at.

Use[edit]
A very strong way to express anger or frustration is to use the words tabarnak, sacrament, and câlice. Depending on
the context and the tone of the phrases, it might make everybody quiet, but some people use those words to add
rhythm or emphasis to sentences.
Usually, more than one of these words is used in French-Canadian profanity. The words are simply connected
with de (of), without any restrictions. Long strings of invective can be connected in this French-Canadian way, and the
resulting expression doesn't have to have any concrete meaning. For example, Mon ostie de saint-sacrament de
câlice de crisse! (literally: "My host of (the) holy sacrament of (the) chalice of Christ"). Non-religious terms may also
be strung together in this Quebec way, as in Mon crisse de char est brisé, tabarnak de câlisse (literally: "My Christ of
(a) car is broken, tabernacle of (the) chalice").[2] In areas where English is also commonly spoken, English expletives
are often inserted. Fuck ostie ("fuck [the] host") is common in Quebec.
The word fucké (with meanings varying from "crazy, disturbed" to "broken down") is much milder than "fucked" is
in English. It is routinely used in, for instance, TV sitcom dialogue.[2] The same goes for chit ("shit") (which in Quebec
French is used only as an interjection expressing dismay, never as the noun for excrement). When used as a
verb, va chier (literally: "go shit"), it does not mean to excrete but rather to "fuck off". When used as past tense chié, it
is used exactly as fucké: mes souliers sont chiés ("my shoes are fucked").
Even English-language dialogue containing these words can appear on Quebec French-language television
without bleeping. For example, in 2003 when punksrioted in Montreal because a concert by the band The
Exploited had been cancelled, TV news reporters solemnly read out a few lyrics and song titles from their album Fuck
the System. The same is not true of Quebec's English-language television stations, which follow the same guidelines
as other stations in Canada. In November 2017 the CRTC ruled that 'fuck' is not a swear in
French. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/the-f-word-can-fly-in-french-broadcast-watchdog-
says/article36871616/

Non-profane uses[edit]
A slang term with the preposition en means "a lot of": d'la bouffe en tabarnak (or en crisse, etc.) means "a lot of food",
similar to English constructs such as "fuck-ton" or "shitload".
Sacres are often used as verbs, too. For example, câlisser une volée means "to beat the fuck out of" or, more
literally, "to give a beating" where câlisser is used as a stronger form of "to give" (donner in French). There are
constructions like décrisser which means to leave or to destroy, using the dé prefix, which is about separation. Others
include, s'en câlicer or s'en crisser ("not give a damn"), sacrer son camp ("run away", literally "consecrate the camp
while leaving it"), and décâlisser. Some are even found as adverbs: crissement meaning "very" or "extremely" as in
"this is so darned sweet".
In the movie "Bon Cop Bad Cop", French-Canadian actor and stand-up comic Patrick Huard teaches Colm Feore
how to swear properly.
These expressions are found less commonly in literature, but rappers and other singers often
use crisse and câlice as a rhyme. More traditional singers also use these words, for example, Quebec singer Plume
Latraverse.
One fine example of the use of sacres as different word classes is a dialogue by 'Les Cyniques' called Le cours de
sacres. The phrase Jules, étant irrité, a expulsé violemment Jacques qui était en colère ("Jules, who was irritated,
violently ejected Jacques who was angry") becomes Le sacrament qui était en calvaire a calissé dehors l'ostie en
tabarnak.[further explanation needed]

Comparison to other languages[edit]

The use of liturgical profanity is not unique to Canadian French or Quebec. In Italian, although to a lesser extent,
some analogous words are in use: in particular ostia (host) and (more so in the past) sacramento are relatively
common expressions in the north/east, which are lighter (and a little less common) than the typical blasphemies in
use in Italy such as porco Dio (pig god) and porca Madonna (see: Italian profanity). Modifying the terms into
euphemistic equivalents is used in Italy: for example ostia is commonly modified to osteria. The word sacramento has
produced the verb sacramentare, which colloquially means "to use blasphemy".
Other dialects in the world feature this kind of profanity. For instance, the expressions Sakrament and Kruzifix noch
einmal in Austro-Bavarian or Krucifix in Czech. La hostia is an expletive expression in some Spanish dialects.
In Catalan, hòstia is used and is frequently abbreviated to osti. Spanish also uses me cago en ... ("I shit on ...")
followed by "God", "the blessed chalice", "the Virgin" and other terms, religious or not. It can be shortened to just ¡La
virgen! or ¡Copón bendito! ("Blessed chalice!"). In Romanian, the profanity anafura mă-tii! ("Your mother's host!") is
sometimes used with "Easter", "Christ", "Cross", "Commemoration" (parastas), "sacred oil lamp" ('tu-i candela 'mă-
sii), "God", "Church", etc.
Sheila Fischman's translation of La Guerre, Yes Sir! (published under that title in French and English and meaning
roughly "War, you bet!") by Roch Carrierleaves many sacres in the original Quebec French, since they have no real
equivalent in English. She gives a brief explanation and history of these terms in her introduction, including a few not
listed here.
Irish Catholics of old employed a similar practice, whereby "ejaculations" were used to express frustration without
cursing or profaning (taking the Lord's name in vain). This typically involved the recitation of a rhyming couplet, where
a shocked person might say "Jesus who, for love of me / Died on the Cross at Calvary" instead of "Jesus!" This is
often abbreviated simply to "Jesus-hoo-fer-luv-a-me", an expression still heard among elderly Irish people. "Jesus,
Mary and Joseph!" is used in Quebec French "Jésus, Marie, Joseph  !"