Quebec French Lexicon - Idioms

Idioms

There is a huge variety of idioms in Quebec that do not exist in France, such as fait que ("so"); en masse ("a lot"); s'en venir (for arriver and venir ici); ben là! or voyons donc! ("oh, come on!"), de même (for comme ça).

Entire reference books have been written about idioms specific to Quebec. A handful of examples among many hundreds:

• J'ai mon voyage = J'en ai marre / Pas possible! = I'm fed up / Unbelievable!
• C'est de valeur = C'est dommage = What a pity

Dialog in sitcoms on Quebec television often use such idioms extensively, which can make certain dialogs rather incomprehensible to French speakers of Europe.