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The Delightful Perversity of Québec's Catholic Swear Words

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Re: The Delightful Perversity of Québec's Catholic Swear Words

#21

Post by kspaans »

alasano wrote: post #14

First time seeing my province on HN. Swearing in Québec feels like an extension of your body and even the most well spoken people give in to the treat that are our swear words. I'm always reminded of this quote from the Matrix trilogy (although relating to French from France). Merovingian: Yes, of course, who has time? Who has time? But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time? Chiteau Haut-Brion 1…

I'm roughly a quarter French-Canadien and grew up in North-Eastern Ontario near the border. My french education has been a blend of Parisian and Québecois. I remember taking a very enlightening french class at UWaterloo: FR373 History of French-English Bilingualism. My favourite anecdote was of French tourists visiting Québec after it was "rediscovered" by France, and being surprised when their sex-based swears didn't phase the Canadians and similarly the church-based swears didn't bother the French.

Re: The Delightful Perversity of Québec's Catholic Swear Words

#22

Post by semi-extrinsic »

tormeh wrote: post #18

As a Norwegian, I find English profanity to be pretty tame. It all means the same, but I think we have more pathos: "May the devil take you" and "go hang yourself" has to be the highlights....

There is also quite an interesting geographical variation in swearing in Norway. In the northern parts, swearing is sufficiently common that it's legal to call a policeman "you horse cock".

Re: The Delightful Perversity of Québec's Catholic Swear Words

#24

Post by jordigh »

C'est beau le joual!

http://mononc.com/chanson/le-joual/

A funny thing to observe, as the article notes: the verb "fuck" will be conjugated in French, as attested by "fucké" in the lyrics above, but it's not really a big deal in French. It's not taboo language like "tabarnak" is.

One thing the article says is that the cursing is completely meaningless. It is not. For example, "câlisser" as a verb means to throw something violently:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/c%C3%A2lisser

This isn't interchangeable with other taboo words. I don't think tabarnak even has a verb form.

Re: The Delightful Perversity of Québec's Catholic Swear Words

#26

Post by spudlyo »

My favorite curse comes by way of Maledicta which is a scholarly journal on verbal aggression. If I recall this particular curse was Hungarian in origin. This curse is sexual, scatalogical, and blasphemous. If you are offended by such things, I'd suggest you read no further.

"Oh Lord, why are you slapping me with your cock, which is covered in shit from fucking Jesus!?"

Re: The Delightful Perversity of Québec's Catholic Swear Words

#27

Post by realo »

jordigh wrote: post #24

C'est beau le joual! http://mononc.com/chanson/le-joual/ A funny thing to observe, as the article notes: the verb "fuck" will be conjugated in French, as attested by "fucké" in the lyrics above, but it's not really a big deal in French. It's not taboo language like "tabarnak" is. One thing the article says is that the cursing is completely meaningless. It is not. For example, "câlisser" as a verb means to throw somet…

Yes, tabarnak has a verb form:

"Je vais t'en tabarnaker une si tu continues." e.g. "I will (provide you violently) a punch you if you continue."

tabarnaker: to do with violence

Re: The Delightful Perversity of Québec's Catholic Swear Words

#28

Post by jordigh »

realo wrote: post #27
jordigh wrote: post #24

C'est beau le joual! http://mononc.com/chanson/le-joual/ A funny thing to observe, as the article notes: the verb "fuck" will be conjugated in French, as attested by "fucké" in the lyrics above, but it's not really a big deal in French. It's not taboo language like "tabarnak" is. One thing the article says is that the cursing is completely meaningless. It is not. For example, "câlisser" as a verb means to throw somet…

Yes, tabarnak has a verb form: "Je vais t'en tabarnaker une si tu continues." e.g. "I will (provide you violently) a punch you if you continue." tabarnaker: to do with violence

Neat! I didn't know! Your Wiktionary needs you!

https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/tabarnaker

But that does sound interchangeable with câlisse, then, isn't it? You can't say "je vais te tabarnaker" avec le même sens qu'avec "câlisser" (sans les mots "en" et "une", je veux dire).

Re: The Delightful Perversity of Québec's Catholic Swear Words

#29

Post by make3 »

alasano wrote: post #14

First time seeing my province on HN. Swearing in Québec feels like an extension of your body and even the most well spoken people give in to the treat that are our swear words. I'm always reminded of this quote from the Matrix trilogy (although relating to French from France). Merovingian: Yes, of course, who has time? Who has time? But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time? Chiteau Haut-Brion 1…

d'enculé de ta mère (*)

Re: The Delightful Perversity of Québec's Catholic Swear Words

#30

Post by alasano »

kspaans wrote: post #21
alasano wrote: post #14

First time seeing my province on HN. Swearing in Québec feels like an extension of your body and even the most well spoken people give in to the treat that are our swear words. I'm always reminded of this quote from the Matrix trilogy (although relating to French from France). Merovingian: Yes, of course, who has time? Who has time? But then if we do not ever take time, how can we ever have time? Chiteau Haut-Brion 1…

I'm roughly a quarter French-Canadien and grew up in North-Eastern Ontario near the border. My french education has been a blend of Parisian and Québecois. I remember taking a very enlightening french class at UWaterloo: FR373 History of French-English Bilingualism. My favourite anecdote was of French tourists visiting Québec after it was "rediscovered" by France, and being surprised when their sex-based swears didn'…

Profane Symbiosis, it's the root of our relationship with the french people.
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