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30+ useful phrases and expressions to learn in Québécois French (#985)
Only 15 posts away from 1000…! In #984, I pulled together a list of informal contractions used in Québécois French and that have come up in recent videos added to OffQc. Let’s do another list here in...
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Winter slush and summer slush in Québec (#986)
In Québec, you’ll find slush all year round… not because winter never ends, but because you can drink it in the summer as a treat. In the winter, la sloche (or la slush) is snow on the ground that...
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T’es vraiment dans la lune! How DANS LA can contract in Québécois French (#987)
I saw this ad from the Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium in Montréal. It reads: T’es vraiment dans la Lune! The expression être dans la lune means to be out to lunch, to not be with it, to have your head in...
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Staircases in Rosemont + using the expression SE PASSER DE in French (#988)
I spotted this Pages Jaunes ad in Montréal, which reads: Rosemont compte 18 déménageurs. Et beaucoup trop d’escaliers pour s’en passer. There are 18 moving companies in Rosemont. And far too many...
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Understand 3 words used in Québécois French: GANG, FÊTE, BLONDE (#989)
On a wall in a shopping centre in Montréal, I came across these blocks of text providing reasons to go shopping there. Let’s look at two of them. C’est la fête de ma blonde. It’s my girlfriend’s...
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Learn 2 Québécois expressions: FRAPPER SON MUR and COGNER DES CLOUS (#990)
If you take the métro in Montréal, I’m sure you’ve seen some new ads for an energy gum with images of people’s faces all scrunched up. Here are two of them. What does the text on them mean? One of the...
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30 French phrases related to dating and long-term relationships (#991)
Can you describe your new boyfriend as being too clingy? What about cuddling up to a movie? Can you tell someone you don’t look your age? I went straight to the source for these examples… personal ads...
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Amadné? Informal contraction of frequently used expression in Québécois...
An expression used frequently in French is à un moment donné. It means at some point, at a certain point, at one point, etc. À un moment donné, j’ai dû arrêter. I had to stop at one point. À un moment...
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Two colloquial French pronunciations: D’LA VISITE and FIN D’SEMAINE (#993)
Montréal In the OffQc guide 1000, there’s an example sentence (#549) that reads: J’attends d’la visite. I’m expecting company. De la visite here means company, as in people who come for a visit. In...
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Frequently used Québécois French expressions FAQUE LÀ and PIS LÀ (#994)
Montréal During a conversation, I was reminded of the importance and frequency of the expression faque là. You’ll want to make sure you understand this expression if you don’t already. Faque is a...
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3 French usages heard on a Montréal radio show (#995)
Montréal PAR CHEZ VOUS While listening to the radio yesterday, I heard the host of a radio show speak about the weather; she asked her listeners: Est-ce qu’on a de la pluie par chez vous? Par chez vous...
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2 important uses of the French PARCE QUE to learn (#996)
Here’s a usage that came up in a conversation that you’ll want to learn: PARCE QUE… PIS QUE… parce que… pis que… because… and because… For example: Je l’ai acheté parce que c’est bon pis que c’est bio....
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A look at the Québécois use of BOQUÉ in the sense of stubborn (#997)
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...
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Informal Québécois expression: pogner un virus (#998)
I came across this short clip taken from a show by comedian Korine Côté. Her words were transcribed by a YouTube user in this video that he’s created and posted online, but I’ve written them out below....
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Ça m’tente pas, j’ai pas l’goût, j’ai pas envie! (#999)
We’ve seen before how both the expression avoir le goût and the verb tenter can be used in the sense of to want, to feel like, or like the expression avoir envie. Ça m’tente pas. J’ai pas l’goût. J’ai...
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Mille fois merci (#1000)
We’ve done it — we’ve made it to #1000. The first post on OffQc is dated December 2010, almost five years ago. When I began, I had no idea this blog would someday get to #1000 — a few hundred posts at...
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3 examples of swearing in Québécois French taken from Facebook comments (#1001)
Montréal Here are 3 examples of French using swear words heard in Québec. They’re taken from Facebook comments. Maudit que t’es beau! Damn you’re good-looking! Damn you look good! C’est pas d’sa faute...
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2 Québécois usages of the French word SUPPORT (#1002)
You know those large boxes in the street where you can donate clothing? They’re called boîtes de dons, donation boxes. There’s one in my area from an organisation called Le Support. Support is an...
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7 examples using the French APRÈS in a way you might not know (#1003)
I saw the sign in the image on a fence surrounding someone’s house; it’s telling us not to leave our bikes locked après la clôture, or on the fence. On the OQLF website, we’re given quite a few...
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French term of affection used in music: Mon p’tit loup (#1004)
Two readers have asked for help with French terms of affection to use with their Québécois boyfriend, so I’ll try to start adding examples of these. Québécois Jean-Pierre Ferland sings a love song...
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