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Everything you ever wanted to know about the québécois use of LÀ (#594)
You’ll find lots of examples on OffQc of how là is used in Quebec French. In this entry, I’ll pull together the most important ones that you want to know. Là is a little word, but the Québécois give it...
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JF Mercier loves his anti-nicotine attack dog Roxie (#595)
Roxie, je le sais que tu comprends pas pourquoi qu’y'a (qu’il y a) des gens qui fument. J’ai jamais fumé, pis t’as jamais fumé non plus. Pis ça tombe bien parce que t’aurais pas été capable de...
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Help with the French used by Mercier (#596)
In entry #595, I posted a video where comedian Jean-François Mercier pokes fun at smokers by professing his love for his anti-nicotine attack dog Roxie. Let’s look at two parts of that video, where...
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Tanné d’être gelé? (#597)
This ad seen in métro Atwater asks: Tanné d’être gelé? Had it with being stoned? The ad is aimed at people with drug, alcohol and gambling addictions. être tanné de to be fed up with gelé stoned,...
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Everything you ever wanted to know about the québécois use of ÉCŒURANT (#598)
Something that’s écœurant in French can be described as disgusting in English, such as une odeur écœurante. The use of écœurant in the sense of disgusting is understood by francophones everywhere. But,...
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Understanding ÉCŒURANT, simplified version (#599)
Yesterday’s entry Everything you ever wanted to know about the québécois use of ÉCŒURANT contained a lot of info, and words with double meanings can be intimidating. Here’s a simplified version: If the...
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OffQc’s most popular québécois words — and thanks (#600)
Yes! Entry #600! As #600 approached, I got curious as to the most googled québécois words and phrases that led people to OffQc since it began in December 2010… and there they are in the image above!...
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Make way for the bus! Learn driving-related vocabulary in French (#601)
Can you talk about a driver’s blind spots in French? How about overtaking a vehicle or making right-hand turns? Learn how to talk about all of these in this video from Vélo Québec about sharing the...
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Clear up doubts about words related to blogging in French (#602)
A blog is called un blogue in French. It’s a masculine noun. The word blogue refers to the entire site, not the individual entries on the blog. For example, OffQc is un blogue, but the individual entry...
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Ta yeule, ta gueule + MTL’s iconic 514 area code (#603)
This guy’s wearing a shirt with ta yeule! printed on it. That’s québécois for “shut up!” or “shut your mouth!” The expression ta yeule! is a variant of ta gueule!, which means the same thing. Both are...
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5-minute video + transcription in French: Eyeliner tips from Cynthia Dulude...
Here’s another great video from Cynthia Dulude that you can use to practise listening to French, this one about eyeliner application. Vous avez de la difficulté à appliquer votre eye-liner?...
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Discover how the word LA GANG is used in Québec (#605)
Lucas wrote to me asking if the word gang is masculine or feminine in the French of Québec. In spontaneous speech, it’s feminine: une gang. The pronunciation of gang in Québec sounds like its English...
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Pronunciation help: écœurant, pogner, niaiser (#606)
I’ve had some requests for pronunciation help related to the words in the everything-you-ever-wanted-to-know entries about écœurant, pogner and niaiser. ÉCŒURANT In the middle of écœurant is the word...
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Do you know how to use the French verb TENTER? (#607)
In this image, Montréal drivers are reminded to keep off a reserved bus lane, designated by a symbol in the shape of a diamond: Tenté par la voie réservée? Prenez l’autobus! Tempted to use the reserved...
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A baby demonstrates a Quebec French expression: cogner des clous (#608)
If you take public transport, at some point you’ve seen a tired passenger trying to fight off sleep while commuting home. His head drops, he wakes back up, his heads drops again, he wakes back up… This...
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Learn a new QC French expression: pogner les nerfs (#609)
Now that you’re better acquainted with the québécois verb pogner and how to pronounce it, here’s another expression that you can add to your knowledge: pogner les nerfs to lose one’s temper, to get...
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What will you do when confronted with a trottoir barré? (#610)
You’re walking happily along the street listening to your favourite music. Suddenly, you’re confronted with a closed sidewalk sign: TROTTOIR BARRÉ So you cross the street and walk on the other side. A...
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Fuck the excuses! 5 unique weight-loss ads in French (#611)
Unless you’ve got the eyes of a fucking hawk, click to see a larger version. These 5 ads, seen near the entrance to a gym in Montréal, take a bold approach at encouraging us to tighten up our unsightly...
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You thought you knew Montréal? (#612)
This cool video from the magazine Urbania lets us in on some facts about Montréal that may surprise you. The video is from 2007. Feel free to update any numbers that have changed in the comments if you...
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3 bits of nonsense to never tell yourself when learning French (#613)
“Oh misery. Maybe I’ll just switch to gardening before Felix makes me feel all shitty inside.” (Oh no you don’t!) 1. “I suck at French.” Everybody thinks that. Not that you suck at French; I mean all...
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