-
black bass
- le achigan (qu.)
- la perche noire (fr.)
-
cranberry (2 Qué, 1 Fr.)
- le atoca (Qu.)
- la canneberge (Qu.)
la airelle (fr.)
*In Quebec, canneberge usually designates the fruit itself as well as the cranberry juice, whereas atoca usually refers to the cranberry jelly traditionally eaten with the Thanksgiving or Christmas turkey.
-
aircraft manufacturing plant (Qu. only)
la avionnerie
-
snow bank
- le banc de neige (qu.)
- la congère (fr.)
-
to lock
- barrer (qc.)
- verrouiller (fr.)
*French colonists would use a crossbar to secure the entrance to their dwelling. Hence, barring rather than locking the door.
-
to unlock
- débarrer (qu.)
- déverrouiller (fr.)
-
bug
la bibitte (qu.)
le moustique / un insecte / la bestiole (fr.)
*In France, the term "bitte" refers to a man's phallus. "Bitte" is not used in Quebec, though French terms such as this are recognized more and more. The younger Québécois generation can often use their own native terms and French terms alternately. The French on the other hand are more rarely exposed to Quebec French and so are less "accepting" of such deviations.
-
lowbush /wild blueberries
- les bleuets [sauvages] (masc.) (qc.)
- la myrtilles (fr.)
-
blueberry field or farm
la bleuetière (qu.)
le champ de myrtilles (fr.)
-
Ice stuck to the bank of a river.
*Often used to designate the slushy mix of ice and snow pushed to the side of the road by snow plows. (Qu. word only)
les bordages
-
Jostling of ice under the effect of winds, tides, or streams (qc only)
le bouscueil
-
nightfall / dusk
la brunante (qc.)
le crépuscule (fr.)
-
sugar shack
la cabane à sucre (qc.)
-
wolverine
le carcajou (qc.)
le glouton (fr.)
-
pint
la chopine (qc.)
la pinte (fr.)
- *Pinte is used in Canada, but refers to a quart.
- *quart = quarter gallon
- *pint = 1/8 gallon
-
backwoodsman, fur trader, lumberjack
coureur de(s) bois (qc.)
-
facecloth
la débarbouillette (qc.)
le gant de toilette (fr.)
-
half-pint
le demiard / demi (qc.)
demi (fr.)
-
convenience store / corner store
le dépanneur (qc.)
- la épicerie (fr.)
- la supérette (fr.)
-
corn roast
la épluchette / la épluchette de blé d'inde (qc.)
*designates a social gathering where people husk and eat corn / to husk - éplucher
-
-
weekend
la fin de semaine (qc.)
le week-end
-
parking lot
le stationnement (qc.)
le parking (fr.)
*The word "stationnement" is the French word, but in France they replace many words by the English equivalent when it is shorter.
-
fragile ice
le frasil (qc.)
*In Canada, crystals, small bodies of ice that form a mass in water when the temperature drops; film formed by the ice which begins to set.
-
loon
le huard (huart) (qc.)
le Plongeon Huard (fr.)
*A type of bird typically found in lakes and ponds. In Canada, this bird is found on one dollar coins and is alternatively used to designate one dollar coins.
-
shopping (n.)
to go shopping (v.)
- le magasinage (qc.)
- magasiner (qc.)
- les courses (fr.)
- faire des courses (fr.)
- faire les magasins (fr.)
-
mosquito (3 qc, 1 fr.)
- le maringouin (qc.)
- picaouin (qc.)
- le moustique (qc.)
le moustique (fr.)
-
mileage (2 qc., 1fr.)
- le millage (qc.)
- le kilométrage (qc.)
le kilométrage (fr.)
-
moose
un orignal (qc.)
un élan (fr.)
-
freshwater salmon
la ouananiche (qc.)
le saumon atlantique d'eau douce (fr.)
-
bullfrog
le ouaouaron (qc.)
la grenouille-taureau (fr.)
-
Canada goose
la outarde (qc.)
la bernache du Canada (fr.)
-
blowing snow (2 qc., 1 fr.)
- la poudrerie de neige (qc.)
- la rafale de (neige) (qc.)
la rafale de (neige) poudreuse (fr.)
-
Eastern hemlock
la pruche (qc.)
le tsuga du Canada (fr.)
-
snowshoer
le raquetteur / la raquetteuse (qc.)
celui qui fait des raquettes (fr.)
-
snowblower
la souffleuse (qc.)
le chasse-neige (fr.)
*In Quebec, un chasse-neige is a snowplow though the term charrue is mainly used for snow plow.
-
-
eastern chipmunk
le suisse (qc.)
le tamia rayé (fr.)
*Also sometimes, it is called petit suisse (tiny chipmunk) because when compared, it is smaller than a squirrel.
-
a couch potato
le / la télézard (qc.)
*from télé + lézarder
-
maple taffy
le tire d'érable (qc.)
-
ferryboat (1 qc., 2 fr)
le traversier (qc.)
- le ferry (fr.)
- le bac (fr.)
-
tuque
la tuque (qc.)
le bonnet (fr.)
-
tuxedo
le tuxedo (qc.)
le smoking (fr.)
-
yard (2 qc., 1 fr.)
- la vergue (qc.)
- la cour (qc.)
la cour arrière (fr.)
-
living-room (1 qc., 2 fr.)
le salon (qc.)
- le salon (fr.)
- la salle de) séjour (fr.)
-
to come (Québec slang)
vnir
*In Quebec check les ben vnir! In Europe, regarde le bien s'en venir
-
very (Québec slang)
ben
*Used informally for "Well...," on both sides. Ben, tu te souviens de cette encyclopédie sur Internet?. It is derived from the formal form Eh bien.
-
small insect (Québec slang)
la bibitte
*Derived from bébête for "small creature"
-
girlfriend (Québec slang)
la blonde
*May be used regardless of hair colour
-
underwear (Québec slang)
la bobette / les bobettes
*In Europe, sous-vêtements
-
to weep, to whine (Quèbec slang)
brailler
*In Europe, to scream, to speak very loudly (colloquial)
-
car (Québec slang)
un char
*Comes from cart and horse days. In Europe, a char is an army tank or a chariot.
-
to masturbate; to double-cross (Québec slang)
(se) crosser
*Verb is "to masturbate" in reflexive form only. crosseur = wanker, swindler. In Europe the French say (se) branler
-
to obtain (Québec slang)
crier
*In Europe, to cry. See also pogner
-
stop procrastinating, get on with it, hurry up (Québec slang)
déguidine!
*Note that the second "d" is pronounced "dz". See also déniaise!, envoye!, enweye!, awaye!
-
wonderful (used ironically) - (Québec slang)
(le) écœurant
*Literally "nauseating", used ironically to mean something is overwhelmingly good, as an English speaker might say "so sweet I got a tooth ache". Note, someone calling you mon écœurant ("you bastard!") is not a term of endearment.
-
let's go, hurry up, come on (Québec slang)
envoye! (enweye)(awaye)
*Often pronounced with a "w" sound, not with "v"
-
that said, so, that means (Québec slang)
faque
*Contraction of fait que or ça fait que. Also, in Europe, Ce qui fait que...
-
homosexual (Québec slang)
fif
*fam. Osti quié fif ce gars la. ("Damn, he's gay, that guy there").
European French = PD / pédé
-
nice, sweet (of a person) - Québec slang
fin, fine
*In Europe = mignon, mignonne
-
a kid (perhaps 10 years old or so) - Québec slang
le flo
*Might possibly be an anglicism from "fellow"; European French = môme / gosses / les drôles
-
cold (Québec slang)
fret(te)
*Denotes something colder than merely ça caille ! / Il fait froid
-
fun, amusing (Québec slang)
le fun
(adjective, not noun, despite the le)
*c'est très le fun; c'est amusant
-
to throw without caution, fling carelessly (Québec slang)
garrocher
*pronounced garrocher or goarrocher
-
"like" (Québec slang)
genre
*This slang is used as a parallel to the "like" word used by some American slang; the French word for "like", comme, may also be used. These words appear often in the same sentence as the word tsé (tu sais = you know) as a form of slipped words within spoken structure. The use of voilà in this manner, although common in France, is not found in Canada.
-
trench, ditch (Québec slang)
gollé
*from English "gully"
-
cock, penis (Québec slang)
la graine
*Eille le gros, on voit ta graine! European French = bitte, queue
-
hurry up or move (Québec slang)
grouiller
*This verb is often used in grouille-toé, meaning "hurry up". Also used to mean that "you move" as in grouille pas (ne bouge pas), meaning "don't move". Same thing in Europe: grouille-toi, grouille tes puces (literally, "Shake your fleas")
-
prostitute, badly dressed woman, effeminate man (Québec slang)
guidoune
-
to chat it up (Québec slang)
jaser
-
to hit with a car (Québec slang)
lutter
*Can be used as follows: J'ai lutté un orignal meaning "I hit a moose". Lutter in proper French means "to wrestle".
-
deteriorated, used, wrecked (Québec slang)
magané
*Can also mean tired, sick or exhausted.
-
"totally", "for sure", "I'll say" (Québec slang)
mets-en
*Used to agree with a statement (informal)
-
not at all (Québec slang)
pantoute
*Contraction of pas en tout (pas du tout)
-
drunk (Québec slang) (2)
paqueté
saoul
-
babe/chick (good looking girl); or floating log (Québec slang)
pitoune
*Depends on the context, from Occitan pichona [pi'tʃuno], meaning young girl
-
boring, unfortunate (Québec slang)
plate
*plat ("flat") with the t pronounced
-
to vomit, sometimes also used instead of plumer (Québec slang)
pleumer
*To vomit when having nausea; J'ai trop bu hier, j'ai pleumé partout ("I drank too much yesterday, I barfed everywhere")
-
vagina or promiscuous woman (Québec slang)
plotte
*Very vulgar, similar to the English "cunt"
-
To pluck; to beat in a game (Québec slang)
plumer
*literally, as plume = feather
*Secondly, it can be used as a verb to describe a beating in a game; Je vais te plumer aux cartes in the sense of plucking the feathers of an opponent; similar to the English expression "to lose one's shirt". Finally, as a verb meaning "to peel", as in J'ai plumé quelques légumes ("I peeled some veggies").
-
stupid, untalented (Québec slang)
poche
*Can also mean "unfortunate" (c'est poche ça, similar to c'est plate ça)
-
get, grab (Québec slang)
pogner
*Can also mean to be sexually attractive, successful, or to have a loud argument with someone (J'me suis pogné avec mon voisin, "I bickered with my neighbour"). It may also mean "obtain", as in Je me suis pogné une nouvelle radio ("I grabbed myself a new radio").
-
kitsch, tacky (not in a good way) - Québec slang
quétaine
-
to irritate someone, "get on one's nerves" (Québec slang) (2)
- taper
- tomber sur les nerfs
*Only taper sur les nerfs in France.
-
English-Canadians (Québec slang)
tête(s) carrée(s)
*Used only in Quebec, this term can be considered pejorative or even a racial slur. Literally "square head(s)" in English.
-
you (informal) - Québec slang
toé (toi)
-
you know (Québec slang)
tsé (tu sais)
*Used in the same way the French use vous savez and corresponds to the English version "you know" or the American version "y'know" (abbreviated structure).
Often heard in the same sentence as the word genre, as both are slang representing lack of clarity.
-
move over (Québec slang)
se tasser
*Europe: s'entasser: to be jammed in together. Ça se tasse, a situation where tempers settle down after a scandal or quarrel
-
smoke (Québec slang)
le boucane
*Boucane old term of boucan (meat smoker) also root of buccaneers
-
important individual (Québec slang)
manitou
-
large wooden spoon (Québec)
Micouène
-
Outhouse, washroom (Québec slang)
le bécosse
*from backhouse in English
-
Pork and beans (Québec slang)
les bines
-
nice, generous [(adj.) of a person] (Québec slang)
blood
-
Male friend; boyfriend [chum de fille = girlfriend] - Québec slang
le chum
-
to check (Québec slang)
checker
-
A shift [work period at factory, etc.] - Québec slang
un chiffe / chiffre
-
Make a pass at (Québec slang)
cruiser
-
Cute (good-looking) - Québec slang
cute
-
To dump (a boyfriend or girlfriend) - Québec slang
domper
-
To simulate, pretend (e.g., orgasm) - Québec slang
faker
-
A fan (of a band, a sports team), a ceiling fan - Québec slang
le fan
-
To feel [guilty, etc.]; when unmodified, to feel good; negated, to feel bad
filer
ex. j'file pas astheure
-
mop (Québec slang)
le moppe
-
Loose, untied, released (Québec slang)
lousse
-
To flush (toilet); get rid of; dump [boyfriend/girlfriend] - Québec slang
flusher
-
The pantry or food cupboard
pantré
ex. mets-ça s'a pantré
-
Toothpaste (Québec slang)
pâte à dents
-
peanut (Québec slang)
peanut
-
to throw, to pitch (Québec slang)
pitcher
-
to fall in the ditch with your car (Québec slang)
poignee le ditch
-
Party, social gathering (Québec slang)
party
-
Scram! Get lost! (Québec slang)
scramme
-
Scrap, ruin, break, destroy, nullify (Québec slang)
scrapper
-
to slacken, loosen; slack off, take it easy; fire [employee] (Québec slang)
slacker
-
Smart; wise-guy (either good or bad, as in "smart ass"); likeable [person]; cool (Québec slang)
smatte
-
Montreal smoked meat (similar to pastrami)
smoke meat
-
Swamp, bog (Québec slang)
swomp
-
Toast
toast
*Can be used as the verb for toasting (Toast mes tranches de pain or Tu as bien trop fait toasté mon pain).
*Québécois can also use the word toaster' instead of grille-pain for the appliance.
-
Difficult, rough (Québec slang)
tof
-
withstand, endure (Québec slang)
toffer
*tough it out
-
song (Québec slang)
toune
-
whatever (Indicating dismissal) - Québec slang
whatever
-
water fountain
le abreuvoir (qc.)
la fontaine (fr.)
*In France, abreuvoir is a watering place for animals
-
Traffic (of a store, street, public transit)
le achalandage (qc.)
la circulation (fr.)
-
sale
la aubaine (qc.)
la promotion (fr.)
*in France, aubaine means opportunity
-
disagreeable (person) - (qc. 1, fr. 2)
Bête (qc.)
- Désagréable (fr.)
- impoli (fr.)
*In France, Bête means stupid. Also can mean stupid in Québec
-
corn
le blé d'Inde (qc.)
le mais (fr.)
*Maïs also standard in Quebec when referring to the corn, aka Mais éclatée (or soufflée) → popped corn. Blé d'Inde is always used to refer to the whole stalk, aka corn on the cob.
-
drinking binge
la brosse (qc.)
la cuite (fr.)
-
binder
le cartable (qc.)
le classeur (fr.)
-
schedule (qc 1, fr. 2)
la cédule (qc.)
- le emploi du temps (fr.)
- le agenda (fr.)
-
T-shirt, sweater, sweatshirt
le chandail (qc.)
Pull-over/T-shirt (fr.)
*In Québec, un chandail can refer to either a t-shirt or a sweater. Look for context.
-
to anger
choquer (qc.)
fâcher (fr.)
*In France, choquer means to shock
-
filing cabinet
le classeur (qc.)
la armoire à dossier (fr.)
*In France, classeur means binder
-
Good, sufficient, kind, O.K. (1 qc., 2 fr.)
correct (qc.)
*In France, correct means corrected
-
Ice cream sundae
une coupe glacée (qc.)
une coupe de glace de la glace au chocolat/à la fraise, etc. (fr.)
-
Crooked; strange, dishonest
croche (qc.)
curieux / bizarre / étrange (fr.)
*In France, croche means eighth note
-
ice cream
la crème glacée (qc.)
de la glace (fr.)
*An ice cream stand is known as a bar laitier or Crèmerie (in France, a glacier)
-
to get out of (a car, etc.)
débarquer (qc.)
descendre (fr.)
*In France, débarquer is specifically for a boat or plane
-
breakfast
le déjeuner (qc.)
le petit déjeuner (fr.)
*In france, déjeuner means lunch
-
To get one's act together, sexually to loosen up
déniaiser (qc.)
-
lunch
le dîner (qc.)
déjeuner (fr.)
*In France, le diner means dinner
-
dumb, slow-witted
épais / épaisse (qc.)
con / conne (fr.)
*In France, épais means thick only. Con is also in usage in Quebec with the same meaning.
-
running shoes (qc 1, fr. 3)
les espadrilles (qc.)
- les baskets (fr.)
- les tennis (fr.)
- les chaussures de sport (fr.)
-
To be full (from eating) (qc 1, fr. 2)
être plein (qc.)
- être bourré (fr.)
- Avoir trop mangé (fr.)
*In France, être pleine means to be pregnant or to be drunk
-
to hit
fesser (qc.)
frapper (fr.)
*In France, fesser means 'to spank'
-
birthday
la fête (qc.)
le anniversaire (fr.)
-
Stupid [person]
innocent (qc.)
imbécile (fr.)
*In France, innocent means innocent or naive.
-
clothes
le linge (qc)
les vêtements (fr.)
-
soft drink
la liqueur (qc.)
le soda (fr.)
*In France, la liqueur means Liquor
-
to rain
mouiller (qc.)
pleuvoir (fr.)
*In France, mouiller means 'to wet.'
-
to annoy, tease, kid, act up
niaiser (qc.)
se moquer (fr.)
** Déniaiser (Eu) is to make a man lose his virginity. J'avais juste vingt ans et je me déniaisais/ Au bordel ambulant d'une armée en campagne (Brel)
-
An idiot, a fool, an annoying and childish person
niaiseux / niaiseuse (qc.)
niais="stupid", "simpleton" (fr.)
* Can be said to describe a thing too, like : "C'est donc ben niaiseux ce film là!"(this movie is really dumb!).
-
Something that is dumb, childish, frivolous and a waste of time
niaiserie (qc.)
connerie (fr.)
*Usually used to describe things that a "Niaiseux" does.
-
potato
la patate (qc.)
la pomme de terre (fr.)
- *Tu es dans les patates!, told to someone in Québec who acts out of, or makes a statement while being unaware of what is going on.
- Europe = Être à côté de la plaque
-
to press (a button) - (qc. 1, fr. 2)
peser sur (qc.)
appuyer, enfoncer (fr.)
*In France, peser sur means to weigh
-
blizzard, blowing snow (qc 1, fr. 3)
la poudrerie (qc.)
- le blizzard (fr.)
- la tempête de neige (fr.)
- les rafales de (neige) poudreuse (fr.)
-
to enter
rentrer (qc.)
entrer (fr.)
- *In France, rentrer means to 're-enter'.
- In Quebec, "re-enter" is rerentrer. Note that colloquial French also uses "rentrer" and "rerentrer" with the same meanings as in Quebec.
-
mean
sans-cœur (qc.)
méchant (fr.)
*In France, sans-cœur means heartless.
-
supper / dinner
le souper (qc.)
le diner (fr.)
*In France, souper can mean a late-night dinner.
-
lollipop
le suçon (qc.)
la sucette (fr.)
*In France, le suçon means a hickey or love bite. And in Québec, a sucette means a hickey.
-
soap opera
le téléroman (qc.)
le feuilleton (fr.)
*
-
Iced Tea
le thé glacé (qc.)
un Ice Tea (fr.)
-
touchdown (football)
Touché (qc.)
Touchdown (fr.)
-
trunk of a car
la valise (qc.)
le coffre (fr.)
*In both France and Québec, a valise is also a suitcase.
-
garbage
les vidanges (fem. qc.)
les ordures (fem. fr.)
*Vidange in France is an oil change for the car (auto), and also an empty bottle in Belgium
-
to annoy (Québec slang)
achaler
*This verb probably comes from the verb "chaloir" which meant "to pester" in old Norman dialect.
-
awesome, great (Québec slang)
tiguidou
* This word is a pure Quebec creation whose origin is obscure. The most plausible theory is that it's a variation of the Scottish expression "tickety-boo" which means "to go slowly, but surely".
-
snowshoe (Québec slang)
la babiche
-
to smoke (meat or fish) - Québec
boucaner
-
holy fuck (Québec profanity)
calisse
*Like most Quebec swear words, it's blasphemous. It refers to the word "chalice" and its use is similar but stronger than the word "crisse"
-
tap (faucet) - Québec slang
la champlure
*This Quebec word certainly comes from the word "chante pleure" which was a kind of funnel with a long pipe pierced with holes to let liquids flow into a barrel or tank.
-
cooking pot (Québec slang)
le chaudron
*People in Quebec keep on using this middle-aged word to describe a container that is used to heat water or food.
-
hot dog (Québec)
le chien-chaud
-
an internet chat (Québec slang)
le clavardage
*This French Canadian word is a portmanteau-word of purely Quebec origin composed of the words "clavier" ("keyboard") and "bavarder" ("to chat").
-
sidewalk (Québec)
This term refers to the strip of concrete bordering the streets
le cotteur
Bord du trottoir
i.e. "à côté" ("next") to the road.
-
holy shit, Christ (Québec profanity)
crisse
*Like most Quebec swear words, it's blasphemous. Its use is similar to the one of "calisse" but it's a bit more gentle. It could be translated as "Christ" as "crisse" or "holy shit".
-
bill (at the restaurant) or receipt (Québec)
la facture
-
buttocks (Québec)
la foufoune / les foufounes
*A dangerous false friend as "foufoune" means "pussy" in France!
-
to gas up (Québec)
gazer
*This Canadian French verb is the gallicised version of the American English verb "to gas up".
-
to have gas, to fart
gazer
-
balls, bollocks (Québec)
les gosses
*Another false friend you'd better get to know in order to avoid very awkward situations as "gosse" means "kid" in French slang..
-
breathalyser (Québec)
ivressomètre
*"Ivresse" meaning "drunkenness", this is the name of the device used for estimating blood alcohol content. In other words, to measure somebody's drunkenness. Let's call a spade a spade!
-
trip (fall) - Québec
la jambette
*Often related to sports, this Quebec word relates to a leg ("jambe") work intended to destabilize the opponent.
-
washer, washing-machine (Québec)
la laveuse
-
household linen (Québec)
le linge
-
equivalent of the f-word (Québec profanity) (2)
osti
*Another blasphemous word as "osti" or "sti" comes from the French word "hostie" which means "host". This French Canadian swear word is used like the f-word in English.
tabarnak
*Another blasphemous word that refers to the "tabernacle" which is the small piece of furniture where the hosts are stored.
-
peanut (Québec slang)
la pinotte
*This typical Quebec word is anglicism coming from the word "peanut". Like in English, the plural form of "pinotte" means of low value.
-
tire (Québec slang)
le robeur
*Another anglicism coming from the word "rubber".
-
dammit (Québec profanity)
sacrament
*One of Quebec's gentler swear words. Its origin is obviously again in the Christian rites.
-
marmot (Québec)
le siffleux
*This word is a Quebec specialty coming from the verb siffler" which means "to whistle".
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