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Example of the word AUBAINE used in a Montréal shop (#885)
Yesterday’s post about the expression quand même contained an example of the feminine word aubaine as used in Québec: Quelle aubaine! What a deal! What an offer! C’est une aubaine. It’s a good offer....
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Examples of the French word CHICANE heard on radio (#886)
I heard a few uses of chicane on the radio yesterday. This feminine noun means “fight” or “argument.” In particular, I heard these two usages: une chicane au bureau a fight at the office an argument at...
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C’est pas ben ben compliqué (#887)
We’ve seen many times on OffQc how ben can be used in the sense of “very” or “really.” Ben is an informal reduction of bien. It sounds like bain. A better spelling would be bin, and you will in fact...
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New Québécois French word to learn: UNE GRATTE (#888)
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...
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Soyez lousse dans vos jeans… (#889)
I came across an ad in a Montréal métro station for a gym offering cardio, musculation and cours en groupe. Part of the ad reads: Soyez lousse dans vos jeans et dans votre budget! Literally: Be “loose”...
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Example of RENDU seen in an ad in Montréal (#890)
Here’s another ad spotted in Montréal. You can click on it. The ad itself doesn’t matter; it’s just the last sentence that’s interesting because it contains a word I often get asked about: rendu. T’es...
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What does Y’A-TU mean as used in Québécois French? (#891)
Y’a-tu quelqu’un? Is anybody there? What does y’a-tu mean in this question? During conversations, maybe you’ve noticed that il y a is almost always pronounced colloquially as y’a (sounds like yâ)....
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Canceller un rendez-vous (#892)
Luminothérapie (Quartier des spectacles) I had a doctor’s appointment scheduled for this week, but the receptionist called to tell me the doctor isn’t feeling well. Ça arrive même aux médecins, she...
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C’est tough en sacrament (#893)
Rue Sainte-Catherine in snowy Montréal this week In a radio interview, Jean Leloup described something as being tough en sacrament. Tough is used informally in the same sense as its English equivalent...
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C’est what? 75 mini lessons in conversational Québécois French (#894)
For those of you new or relatively new to Québécois French, I’ve written an ebook that will give you a good overview of the important features of spoken language: C’EST WHAT? 75 mini lessons in...
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AS-TU versus T’AS-TU in spoken Québécois French (#895)
This bin full of ice in front of a dépanneur (corner shop) in Montréal asks us: As-tu ta glace? Have you got your ice? Yes, we’ve got enough ice in Montréal these days, thank you very much! In addition...
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Thé mon amour… spoken contraction of TU in French (#896)
Saw this in a tea shop window in Montréal: thé mon amour A friend from Central America took a beginner’s French course. In class, they learned that tu es means “you are,” but they never got around to...
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You’re no fun, t’es plate! (#897)
Here’s another funny text message conversation from Les Parent, found here on the show’s Facebook page. The conversation takes place between a mother (grey) and her son Thomas (blue). Lots of great...
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3 Québécois pronunciation notes: nombril, lundi, fâché (#898)
I’m getting pretty excited — we’re only two posts away from #900, which means #1000 is appearing on the horizon! How about some random pronunciation stuff today (maybe review for some of you)? nombril...
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Overheard French expression: c’est pas évident (#899)
Montréal. Yes, it’s still winter. I overheard someone say this yesterday: C’est pas toujours évident. The expression c’est pas évident is a good one to learn because you’ll hear it quite a bit. It...
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1 verb definition, 1 gender usage and 1 colloquial pronunciation in Québécois...
On Urbania in “Il ne fait définitivement pas beau dans le métro,” Marie Darsigny writes about her displeasure with taking the métro. She says: Mon rêve : une bataille générale à Berri-UQAM, où je sors...
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Informal Québécois usages: domper, crisser, câlisser, pogner (#901)
On Urbania, Donavan Lauzon lists his top 10 signs you’ve failed Valentine’s Day. Number 9? Tu t’es fait domper au mois de février. You got dumped in the month of February. Domper is an informal usage....
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What does DRETTE DESSUS mean in Québécois French? (#902)
More Urbania! Keven Breton writes about the consequences of having fingers that don’t bend and, as a result, are stuck in the “fuck you” position. I don’t know what it’s like to have fingers that...
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Listening to French — don’t stop, just keep going (#903)
Does French seem like this when you listen? If so, you’re doing it right. Now keep going. Listening (and understanding what you hear) is the most challenging aspect of learning a language. It’s...
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Overheard French: la débarque de Madonna (#904)
prendre une débarque Overheard on the radio — la débarque de Madonna. The radio host talked about Madonna’s débarque on stage this week: she fell backwards off it. The informal expression prendre une...
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