Other Differences
Like most world reaching languages there are regional differences. Even within Quebec there are regional uses of words or expression. Here are some other differences between standard Quebec French and European French:
| Quebec term | Translation | Meaning of term in Europe | European term | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Char | Car | Tank (military assault vehicle) | Voiture | |
| Abreuvoir | Water fountain | Watering place for animals | Fontaine | Used only for animals in Europe (or for comical effect) |
| Achalandage | Traffic (of a store, street, public transit) | Stock, merchandise, clientele (archaic) | Circulation, Embouteillage, bouchon | |
| Arrêt | A stop or command to stop | Stop | Used on all stop signs. Also used as arrêt d'autobus, "prochain arrêt", etc. | |
| Aubaine | Sale | Opportunity | Promotion | An item is une aubaine but en promotion |
| Baccalauréat | Bachelor's degree | High school leaving exam or diploma | Licence | |
| Barrer | To lock | To block or to strike through | Fermer à clé, verrouiller | Quebec usage archaic in Europe |
| Bête | Disagreeable (person) | Stupid | Désagréable, impoli | European usage also used in Quebec |
| Blé d'Inde | Corn (North American usage) | Maïs | Maïs also standard in Quebec when referring to the kernels, aka Mais éclatée (or soufflée) → popped corn. Blé d'Inde is always used to refer to the whole stalk, aka corn on the cob. | |
| Brosse | Drinking binge | Brush | Cuite | |
| Cartable | Binder | School bag, Satchel | Classeur | See also classeur |
| Cédule | Schedule | Tax bracket (archaic) | Emploi du temps / Agenda | |
| Chandail | T-shirt, sweater, sweatshirt | Knit sweater | Pull / Tee-shirt, | |
| Choquer | To anger | To shock | Fâcher | |
| Classeur | Filing cabinet | Binder | Armoire à dossier | See also cartable |
| Correct | Good, sufficient, kind, O.K. | corrected | bon, juste. | |
| Coupe glacée | Ice cream sundae | coupe de glace de la glace a(u) chocolat/la fraise, etc. | An ice cream stand is known as a bar laitier or Crèmerie (in France, a glacier) | |
| Croche | Crooked; strange, dishonest | Eighth note | curieux / bizarre / étrange | |
| Crème glacée | Ice cream | de la glace | An ice cream stand is known as a bar laitier or Crèmerie (in France, a glacier) | |
| Débarbouillette | Dishrag, washcloth, (glove) | gant de toilette | ||
| Débarquer | Get out of (a car, etc.) | Disembark (from a boat) | Descendre | |
| Débrouiller | To figure things out by onself, to get out of a jam | To clear up (from brouillard i.e. fog) as in one's thoughts | ||
| Déjeuner | Breakfast | Lunch | Petit déjeuner | See also dîner, souper. Qc. usage same as in Belgium, Switzerland and Occitania (Occitan dejunar ). |
| Déniaiser | To get ones act together, sexually to loosen up | |||
| Dîner | Lunch | Dinner | Déjeuner | Qc. usage same as in Belgium, Switzerland, and Occitania (Occitan dinnar ). Dîner as "dinner/evening meal" is standard in formal settings and upscale milieux, such as business, military, diplomatic circles, society dinner party, or an upscale restaurant. In Quebec, the evening meal is "le souper". |
| Efface | Eraser | Gomme | Gomme is used for chewing-gum | |
| Épais | Dumb, slow-witted | Thick | Con | Con is also in usage in Quebec with the same meaning. |
| Espadrilles | Running shoes | Rope-soled sandal | Baskets / Tennis / Chaussures de sport | |
| Être plein | To be full (from eating) | pleine: to be pregnant; to be drunk | être bourré / Avoir trop mangé | |
| Familiale | Station wagon | Estate car | un Break (voiture) | |
| Fesser | To hit | To spank | Frapper | |
| Fête | Birthday | Saint's day | Anniversaire | |
| Football | Gridiron football | Association football | football canadien / football américain | This usage of football to mean the local code or its closely related U.S. cousin is so uniform throughout Canada that the governing body for association football in Quebec is officially the Fédération de soccer du Québec. |
| Innocent | Stupid | Innocent, naive | Imbécile | |
| Insignifiant | Stupid | Insignificant, unremarkable | Imbécile | |
| Linge | Clothes | Linen | Vêtements | |
| Liqueur | Carbonated beverage | Liquor, liqueur | Soda | |
| Magasiner | To go shopping | Faire des courses, faire les magasins, du lèche-vitrine (fam.) | ||
| Maringouin | Mosquito | Moustique | ||
| Mouiller | To rain | To wet | Pleuvoir | |
| Niaiser | Annoy, tease, kid, act up | (doesn't exist as a verb; niais="stupid") | Se moquer or (hum) dire des niaiseries | 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) |
| Niaiseux (niaiseuse) | An idiot, a fool, an annoying and childish person | niais="stupid", "simpleton" | Can be said to describe a thing too, like : "C'est donc ben niaiseux ce film là!"(this movie is really dumb!). | |
| Niaiserie, Niaisage | Something that is dumb, childish, frivolous and a waste of time | Connerie | Usually used to describe things that a "Niaiseux" does. | |
| Patate | Potato | Potato (informal term) | Pomme de terre | Tu es dans les patates!, told to someone who acts out of, or makes a statement while being unaware of what is going on. Europe = Être à côté de la plaque |
| Peser sur | Press (a button) | Weigh | Appuyer, enfoncer | |
| La plaque (d'immatriculation) | License plate | License plate | Les plaques (mineralogiques) | The French license plate codes are based on a system developed by the mining authorities; Quebec requires only a rear plate on cars and pickup trucks. ("Les plaques d'immatriculation" is used on both sides, especially when speaking of vehicles registered in Switzerland, Ontario, Belgium, the Maritimes...) |
| Poudrerie | Blizzard, blowing snow | Gunpowder factory | Blizzard, tempête de neige, rafales de (neige) poudreuse | |
| Rentrer | Enter | Re-enter | Entrer | In Quebec, "re-enter" is rerentrer. Note that colloquial French also uses "rentrer" and "rerentrer" with the same meanings as in Quebec. |
| Sans-cœur | Mean | Heartless | Méchant | |
| Soccer | Association football | Originally British slang for association football (see Oxford "-er"), but now generally considered an Americanism in most of Europe (however, in Ireland, "soccer" is the most common term for this sport) | Foot / Football | See note on Football above. |
| Souper | Supper | Late-night dinner | Dîner | Quebec usage same as in Belgium, Switzerland and Occitania (Occitan sopar ). See also déjeuner, dîner. In formal and upscale settings, the international practice is followed i.e. dîner is the evening meal while "souper" is a late-night, informal meal. |
| Suçon | Lollipop | Hickey | Sucette | and vice-versa: a sucette is a hickey or fellatio in Quebec |
| Téléroman | Soap opera | A soap opera or a continuing series | Feuilleton | |
| Thé glacé | Iced Tea | Ice Tea | ||
| Touché (gridiron football) | Touchdown | Not used in this sense in Europe. (In all forms of French, the word is used as the past participle of toucher, as well as a fencing term.) | Touchdown | See Touchdown Atlantic for an example of the use of touché in reference to Canadian football. |
| Valise | Trunk of a car | Suitcase (also in QC) | Coffre | |
| Vidanges | Garbage | Act of emptying | Ordures | Vidange in France is an oil change for the car (auto), and also an empty bottle in Belgium |
Many, but not all, of the European equivalents for the words listed above are also used or at least understood in Quebec.
Read more about this topic: Quebec French Lexicon
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