OK, that’s not entirely true.
Par exemple does mean “for example” in Québec, but in the example below it doesn’t.
On page 174 of her book Ah shit, j’ai pogné le cancer (tome 1), Maude Schiltz admits to not drinking enough water between chemotherapy treatments.
She says:
Je ne bois pas assez d’eau. J’essaie, par exemple!
This quote doesn’t seem to make much sense when we translate par exemple as “for example,” does it?
That’s because par exemple means something else here:
Je ne bois pas assez d’eau. J’essaie, par exemple!
I don’t drink enough water. I try, though!
Ha! And you thought you knew what par exemple meant. You can try, the Québécois will always have a little linguistic surprise for you, par exemple! ;-)
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French quote written by: Maude Schiltz, Ah shit, j’ai pogné le cancer (tome 1), Éditions de Mortagne, Boucherville (Québec), 2013, page 174.
