While listening to the radio, a woman called in to request a song.
The radio host told us the woman had requested the song for her boyfriend who had to work late.
New snow had fallen in Montréal, and her boyfriend had to spend the night snowploughing the streets. The last part of what the host said was:
[…] son chum qui doit passer la gratte jusqu’à trois heures du matin.
[…] her boyfriend who has to snowplough until three o’clock in the morning.
Another example of gratte, this one found online:
Quand la gratte passe… dégage!
When a snowplough comes along… get out of the way! [NRJ Gatineau-Ottawa 104.1]
… to avoid getting buried in snow!
You’ll also hear a snowplough called une charrue. Both gratte and charrue are Québécois words used in colloquial conversations.
Related:
Une souffleuse à neige is a snowblower.
It’s that machine that picks up the snow and sends it flying onto your neighbour’s property. ;-)
