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The literal translation of the French verb sacrer is "to consecrate", however in Quebec it is the proper word for the form of profanity used in Quebec French. The noun form is sacre.
Quebecois French uses a number of the same types of foul language as in standard French, dealing with sex and excrement (such as merde, " shit" - in Quebecois sometimes pronounced marde, quite like the Scots say " shite"). However, those are usually rather mild, and stronger profanity is expressed using words from Catholic religion and liturgy.
Here is a list of commonly used words, with their original meanings. Usually, when written, nonstandard spellings are used to represent the forceful pronunciation. The standard spellings are given in parentheses.
Sometimes saint (holy, saint) or maudit (damned) is added to one of the above-mentioned words for more effect.
Usually, more than one of these words is used in an expression. The words are simply connected with de, without any restrictions. Long strings of invective can be concatenated in this way, and the resulting expression doesn't have to have any concrete meaning; for example, Mon osti de saint-sacrament de crisse de câlisse! Non-religious terms may also be strung together in this way, as in mon criss de char est fucké (my damn car is broken/fucked up).
Humorous cartoon from the French newspaper Le Canard Enchaîné, featuring Jacques ChiracJacques Rene Chirac Became President 17 May 1995 Predecessor Francois Mitterrand Date of Birth 29 November 1932 Place of Birth Paris Political party Union for a Popular Movement Jacques Rene Chirac (born 29 November 1932) is a French politician. He was el and his wife discussing Quebec French profanity. The title reads: On holiday in Quebec. Chirac's wife Bernadette says: Jacques, why do you always say "calice" and "tabernacle"?
French-speaking visitors to Quebec should note that although these usages may seem comical to those who are used to other kinds of profanity, they are strong curse words and should only be used in a very familiar atmosphere or when one actually means to offend.
Interestingly, the word fucké is much milder than " fuck" is in EnglishThe English language is a West Germanic language, originating from England. It is the third most common "first" language (native speakers), with around 402 million people in 2002. English has lingua franca status in many parts of the world, due to the mil, and is routinely used in, for instance, TV sitcom dialog. The same goes for shit (which in Quebecois French is used only as an interjection expressing dismay, never as the noun for excrement). Even English-language dialog containing these words can appear on Quebec French-language television without bleeping: for example, when punkPunk can have the following meanings: A follower of punk music fashion or culture. Punk is a set of social and political beliefs, morals and standards that indicate an absolute rejection of conformity. A punk is a combustible material or a piece of kindlis rioted in MontrealMontreal (/mVn. tri"Al/ in English, /mO~. re"al/ in French) is the largest city in the province of Quebec, Canada, where it also constitutes an administrative region. It is Canada's second most populous city after Toronto ( Statistics Canada), and the sec because a concert by the band The Exploited had been canceled, TV news reporters solemnly read out a few lyrics and song titles from their album Fuck the System. However, the same is not true of Quebec's English-language television stations, which follow the same guidelines as any other stations in Canada or the United States.
A slang term with the preposition en means "a lot of": d'la bouffe en tabarnac (or en crisse, etc.) means "a lot of food".
Most terms in sacre have modified, milder euphemistic forms:
This use of liturgical profanity is a somewhat unique feature of Quebec French. However a few other dialects in the world also feature this kind of profanity, for instance Austro-Bavarian; la hostia is an expletive expression in some Spanish lects.