Speak Quebec! Quotes

“Chausson aux pommes n.m., Fr. – apple pastry Et un chausson aux pommes avec ça? – Would you like fries with that? (lit. Would you like an apple pie with that?)”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French

“Caucus n.m. – team discussion”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French

“Bozo-les-culottes n.m. – clown, idiot (lit. the clown with the pants)”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French

“avoir vu neiger – to have experience (lit. to have seen it snow) avoir vu passer des gros chars – to have experience (lit. to have seen big cars go by) se faire avoir – to be had, to be taken advantage of”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French

“avoir le va-vite – to have diarrhea; (lit. to have the go-quickly)”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French

“avoir la tête à Papineau – to be very intelligent (lit. to have the head of Papineau)”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French

“avoir du monde à la messe – to be crowded (lit. to have people at the mass) avoir juste le cul et les dents – 1. to have no personality; 2. to be extremely thin (lit. to have just an ass and teeth) avoir la bouche molle – to slur one’s words, most notably, after drinking (lit. to have a soft mouth) avoir la chienne – to be afraid, to be worried avoir la débâcle – to have the runs, to have diarrhea avoir l’air – to seem”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French

“avoir l’air, mais pas la chanson – to have it in principle but not in practice (lit. to have the tune but not the song)”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French

“Achalant(e) n.m./f., adj. – (one who is) annoying, bothersome, exasperating Achaler v.t. – to harass, to annoy, to disturb”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French

“The years that followed the Treaty of Paris were marked by the establishment of the seigneurial system; some two hundred separate fiefs of land along the St. Lawrence River were owned by wealthy landowners, with the the land worked principally by farmers and tradesmen. These so-called habitants (those who lived and worked on the land) evolved the Québec tongue even further.”
― Daniel J. Kraus, Speak Québec!: A Guide to Day-to-Day Quebec French