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Discover essential French-Canadian slang terms and phrases to understand the Québécois culture and language.
- Attache ta tuque! This phrase is used to express excitement or anticipation. It is often used when something thrilling or unexpected is about to happen.
- Fais-le au plus sacrant! This phrase is used to urge someone to do something quickly or without hesitation. It conveys a sense of urgency or impatience.
- C’est le fun! This phrase is used to express enjoyment or excitement about something. It conveys a sense of fun and pleasure. For example, if someone suggests going to an amusement park, someone might respond, “C’est le fun!”
- Jaser. This verb is used to describe the act of chatting or having a conversation. It can refer to casual or friendly conversations. For instance, if someone is talking to a friend on the phone, they might say, “Je jase avec mon ami.”
- Attache Ta Tuque
- Aweille
- Bibitte
- Boss Des Bécosses
- Correct
- Coupe Longueuil
- Là
- Patnais
- Tiguidou
- Quétaine
Québeckers encourage each other to “get ready” with the expression attache ta tuque! (“attach your tuque!”). Tuque is the word used throughout Canada to refer to the hibernal headwear elsewhere known as a “beanie” or a “knit cap.” It’s essentially a very Québec way to say “hold on to your hat” or “fasten your seatbelt.” As Université de Montréal pr...
It’s pronounced like the English “away,” but comes from the French verb “to send” (envoyer), and expresses encouragement (or exasperation), something like “let’s go” or “c’mon.” Aweille can be spelled in a multiplicity of ways (awèye, envouèye, enwoye, etc.), though “aweille” was the spelling chosen by the hip-hop group Dead Obies for their 2016 hi...
With apologies to speakers of Louisiana French (who use it as a vulgarity), bibitte in Québec refers literally to a bug (like the ubiquitous mosquito) and metaphorically to one of life’s little troubles that is similarly irritating.
Another earthy expression, a boss des bécosses is literally the “boss of the outhouses.” It refers to someone who exercises an authoritarian attitude (usually when such an attitude is unnecessary, unhelpful, or comically exaggerated). Bécosse is thought to derive from the old-fashioned English word for a latrine, “backhouse.” Though the expression ...
Correct is the Québecois equivalent of the English “OK,” and is used just as often. “C’est correct” (“it’s OK” or “it’s all good”) can be used to console and reassure or express understanding and satisfaction. Just don’t pronounce the Ts: it’s “say correck,” not “set correct.” But don’t worry. C’est correctif you forget and pronounce it anyway.
Known elsewhere in North America as a “mullet,” this business in the front, party in the back hairstyle is known as the coupe Longueuil (“Longueuil cut”) after the Montréal suburb. Currently making the improbable—or, as they say in Québec, “l’improbable”—comeback, the coup Longueuil has a special place in hockey, where one’s hair, or “flow,” is an ...
It’s technically the word for “there,” but you’ll often just hear it at the end of an expression. There it functions as Québec’s second-most frequently used discourse marker, a word like “like” or “you know” that punctuates speech. You can add it to basically any sentence in order to sound more authentically Canadian. (Bonus fact: English speakers ...
Since the 1960s, Québec has been a destination for many Haitian immigrants who have brought a rich trove of Creole words to the informal lexicon of Québec. Patnais (or patnè) is one such word. It refers to a friend in the singular form or “the gang” (les patnais) in the plural. Patnais joins many other familiar words for a friendly acquaintance, in...
Tiguidou is an old-timey expression of satisfaction and contentment. If things are going perfectly in life, everything is tiguidou. Its origins are unclear, though it may derive from the English tickety-boo. The word is so popular (and appealing) that it’s even used as the brand namefor a Québec cheddar cheese.
Speaking of cheese, quétaine is the Québecois word for “cheesy” (as an adjective) or “cheese” (as noun) used to describe or refer to something kitschy, old-fashioned, or just generally unappealing. Its origin is uncertain, though one amusing folk etymology holds that it derives from a family from the town of Saint-Hyacinthenamed Keating (or Keaton)...
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Quebecois, or Canadian French, is the result of Classical French, imported in North America in the 16th century by the French colonists, mixed with American English and Amerindian influences. While travelling around in Quebec, you will come across vocabulary and sayings that are specific to French Canadians.
Jun 30, 2023 · In Canada and some parts of the US, too, the term fire hall refers to a fire station. tuque. The word tuque or toque is used in Canada to refer to the knitted stocking cap that Americans know as a beanie. Newfie. The slang Newfie is used to refer to a person from the Canadian province of Newfoundland. Many Canadians, both from inside and ...
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Oct 13, 2022 · The intro to French-Canadian slang/sayings you never knew you needed! Canada (as I’m sure you already know) is a bilingual country; our two official languages being French and English. Québec is our only official french-language unilingual province. So, it is a very common practice across Canada for students to learn French as a second language.
