A word that came up on OffQc back in 2011 and that we’ve never looked at again is boqué. The usage we looked at came from a dialogue in the television show 19-2, where boqué was used as both a noun and adjective:
— Ça doit pas être facile… travailler avec un boqué de même.
— Non… j’peux être aussi boqué que lui.— Must not be easy… working with a stubborn guy like that.
— No… (but) I can be just as stubborn as him.From 19-2, season 1, episode 6,
Radio-Canada, 9 March 2011.
You’ll also see boqué spelled in informal writing as bucké or bocké, given that it’s believed by certain speakers to derive from the English buck. The Usito dictionary, however, recognises the Québécois verb boquer [meaning to stand up to, refuse to obey], says it derives from bouquer, and says it’s also heard in other parts of the francophonie, like Switzerland, so it may in fact be a false anglicism.
I went on a little hunt for examples of this word online to illustrate its use:
Bref le monsieur, ben boqué à rester dans les années 1900, est reparti en disant qu’il allait revenir demain.
In short, the man, determined to remain stuck in the 1900s, left and said he’d come back tomorrow.
(Dans les années can be pronounced informally as dins années*; qu’il allait is pronounced informally as qu’y’allait.)
Il n’y a pas moyen de le faire changer d’idée, il est bucké.
It’s impossible to get him to change his mind, he’s stubborn.
(Il n’y a pas moyen is pronounced informally as y’a pas moyen; il est is pronounced informally as yé.)
Il était boqué sur son idée de sushis, fait qu’on a mangé ça.
He wouldn’t budge on his idea to eat sushi, so that’s what we had.
(Il était is pronounced informally as y’était; fait que here is the informal faque we looked at recently.)
J’écoute toutes sortes de musique variées… Ça va du Linkin Park à Frank Sinatra à du EDM, du Hardcore, etc. Je suis pas trop bucké là-dessus!
I listen to all kinds of varied music… It can range from Linkin Park to Frank Sinatra to EDM, Hardcore, etc. I’m not too stubborn about it!
(Je suis is pronounced informally as j’su’/chu or j’suis/chui.)
*If you want to hear an example of dans les années pronounced informally as dins années (sounds like dain z’année), look on YouTube for the song Camping Ste-Germaine by Les Cowboys Fringants.
