Quebec French profanity


Quebec French profanities, known as sacres, are words and expressions related to Catholicism and its liturgy that are used as strong profanities in Quebec French, Acadian French, and traditionally French-speaking areas across Canada. Sacres are considered stronger in Québec than the sexual and scatological profanities common to other varieties of French,.

History

The sacres originated in the early 19th century, when the social control exerted by the Catholic clergy was increasingly a source of frustration. One of the oldest sacres is sacrament, which can be thought of as the Franco-Canadian equivalent of the English "goddamn it". It is known to have been in use as early as the 1830s. The word sacrer in its current meaning is believed to come from the expression Ne dites pas ça, c'est sacré. Eventually, sacrer started to refer to the words Quebecers were not supposed to say. This is likely related to the commandment "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain". The influence and social importance of Catholicism at that time allowed sacres to become powerful forms of profanity.
As a result of the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec has declined but the profanity still remains in use today.

List of common

These sacres are commonly given in a phonetic spelling to indicate the differences in pronunciation from the original word, several of which are typical of informal Quebec French. The nouns here can also be modified for use as verbs. Additionally, some forms, notably ostie and criss, can become semi-adjectival when followed by de, as in Va t'en, ostie de chat! ; tabarnak is often added at the end for extra emphasis.
Often, several of these words are strung together when used adjectivally, as in Va t'en, ostie d'câlice de chat à marde! and many combinations are possible. Since swear words are voluntarily blasphemous, the spellings are usually different from the words from which they originate. For example, câlice can be written kâliss, calice, caliss, cawliss, and so on. There is no general agreement on how to write these words, and the Office québécois de la langue française does not regulate them.
  • baptême : "baptism"
  • câlice : "chalice"
  • ciboire : "ciborium" or "pyx", receptacles in which the host is stored
  • criss : "Christ", or crisser, a more emphatic version of sacrer, both verbs meaning "to curse"
  • esti, or ostie : "host"
  • maudit or maudite : "damned"
  • sacrament : "Sacrament"
  • saint : "Saint", added before others
  • simonaque : from the sin of simony
  • tabarnak : "tabernacle"; typically considered the most profane of the sacres
  • viarge : "the Virgin Mary"

    Mild forms

Most sacres have modified, milder euphemistic forms. Such forms are not usually considered nearly as rude as the original. They are the equivalent of English words such as "gosh", "heck", or "darn". Many of the euphemistic forms are only similar-sounding to religious terms, so are considered not to denigrate the Church directly.
  • câlice: câline, câlif, câlique, câline de bine, câlibine, câlibouette
  • calvaire: calvâce, calvince, calvinouche, calvinus, calvinice, calverace
  • ciboire: cibolle, cibollaque, ciboulle, ciboulette, gériboire
  • criss: cristie, crime, crimebine, criff, cliss, christophe, Christophe Colomb, crimpuff, crique
  • esti: titi, estifie, estique, estine, 'sti
  • maudit: maudine, mautadine, mautadit, mautadite, maustie, mauzus
  • sacrament: sac à papier, sacréfice, sacramouille, Sacramento
  • tabarnak: tabarnouche, tabarouette, tabarnouille, batarnak, tabarchum, tabarslaque, tabarclak, tabarnache, barnac, tabarnane, taberolls, tabréré, tabebouts, tabebruns, tabergaut, tabertix, taberguermon, tabermeuns, taberuph, tabermost, taberax, taberkalu, taberpuch, tabarlan, tabarlie, taberson, tabersiouf, taberbooger, taberkhalil, tabeurn, tabouère, tabarnoune
The following are also considered milder profanity:
  • bâtard: "bastard"
  • toton: "boob", used to denote a breast or a complete idiot
  • torrieu : "harm to God"
  • marde : "shit", used in conjunction with other words, sometimes profanity: esti de marde, silo de marde, tas de marde, mange donc un char de marde, pédale de marde, ciboulette de marde, or château de marde, Internet de marde
  • câliboire : a mix between câlice and ciboire
Sometimes older people unable to bring themselves to swear with church words or their derivatives would make up ostensibly innocuous phrases, such as cinq six boîtes de tomates vartes. This phrase when pronounced quickly by a native speaker sounds like saint-siboire de tabarnak. Another example of a benign word that is church sounding is coltord, which was simply an anglicism for "coal-tar", but pronounced just so, sounds like a merged câlice and tort.

Intricate forms

In Québec French, swear words can be combined into more powerful combinations to express extreme anger or disgust. These intricate uses of French profanities can be difficult to master. The combinations are endless; some people in both Quebec and francophone communities in other provinces consider mixing and matching swear words to be a sort of skilled art.
  • Mon tabarnak j'vais te décâlisser la yeule, câlice or mon tabarnak, m'a tu t'l'a décâlisser ta gran' yeule: Décâlisser means "to fuck something up"; yeule comes from the derived noun gueule, which refers to an animal's throat or maw, but is used in joual to mean the human mouth or face. The whole sentence can be summarized as "I'm gonna beat your fucking face in, you motherfucker".
  • Esti de câlice de tabarnak: Very strong expression of anger. Can also be used as a descriptive phrase expressing anger or derision: Esti de câlice de tabarnak, c'est pas possible comment que t'es cave.
  • Crisse de câlice de tabarnak d'esti de sacrament: Expressive of extreme anger.
  • Crisse de câlice de tabarnak d'esti de sacrament de trou viarge: Expressive of very extreme anger.
  • J'm'en calice: Denotes extreme apathy and suppressed anger, similar to the English "I don't give a fuck". J'm'en calice des politiciens: "I don't give a fuck about politicians."
  • Esti d'épais à marde!: Expression of anger aimed at someone perceived to be lacking in intellectual acumen; épais is used as a derogatory term meaning "idiot", with esti and à marde acting as intensifiers

    Use

A very strong way to express anger or frustration is to use the words tabarnak, sacrament, and câlice. Depending on the context and the tone of the phrases, it might make everybody quiet, but some people use these words to add rhythm or emphasis to sentences.
Usually, more than one of these words is used in Franco-Canadian profanity. The words are simply connected with de, without any restrictions. Long strings of invective can be connected in this way, and the resulting expression does not have to have any concrete meaning—for example, Mon ostie de saint-sacrament de câlice de crisse holy sacrament of. Non-religious terms may also be strung together in this way, as in Mon crisse de char est brisé, câlisse de tabarnak car is broken, chalice of. In areas where English is also commonly spoken, English expletives are often inserted. Fuck ostie is common in Quebec.
The adjective fucké is much milder than "fucked" is in English. It is routinely used in, for instance, TV sitcom dialogue. The same goes for "shit". When used as a verb, Va chier, means not to excrete but rather to "fuck off". When used in the past-tense chié, it is used exactly as fucké: Mes souliers sont chiés.
Even English-language dialogue containing these words can appear on Quebec French-language television without bleeping. For example, in 2003, when punks rioted in Montreal because a concert by the band The Exploited had been cancelled, TV news reporters solemnly read out a few lyrics and song titles from their album Fuck the System. The same is not true of Quebec's English-language television stations, which follow the same guidelines as other stations in Canada. In November 2017 the CRTC ruled that "fuck" is not a swear word in French.

Non-profane uses

A slang term with the preposition en means "a lot of": d’la bouffe en tabarnak means "a lot of food", similar to English constructs such as "fuck-ton" or "shitload".
Sacres are often used as verbs too. For example, crisser une volée means "to beat the fuck out of", "to kick one's ass" or, more literally, "to give a beating", where crisser is used as a stronger form of "to give". There are constructions like détabarnaker or décrisser, which means "to leave" or "to destroy", using the dé prefix, which is about separation. Others include s’en câlicer or s’en crisser, sacrer son camp or crisser son camp, and décâlisser. Some are even found as adverbs, such as sacrament, meaning "very" or "extremely", as in C’est sacrament bon. En tabarnak or en câlisse can mean "extremely angry".
In the movie Bon Cop, Bad Cop, Quebec actor and stand-up comic Patrick Huard's character teaches Colm Feore's how to swear properly.
These expressions are found less commonly in literature, but rappers and other singers often use criss and câlice as a rhyme. More traditional singers also use these words, such as Quebec singer Plume Latraverse.
One fine example of the use of sacres as different word classes is a dialogue by Les Cyniques called Le cours de sacres. The phrase Jules, étant irrité, a expulsé violemment Jacques qui était en colère becomes Le sacrament qui était en calvaire a calissé dehors l’ostie en tabarnak with each content word replaced with a profane synonym. This usage of sacres is similar to the form of Russian swearing known as.

Possible Protestant origin

The expression of ideas linked to the Protestant faith can be considered, looking at both the initial meaning expressed by the swear words and the geographic origin of the settlers of New-France.
Since the roughly twenty initial words have generated close to four-hundred euphemisms and thousands of set constructions, all equally present in all regions of Quebec, it would make more sense to have them begin their development at an earlier time than the mid-nineteenth century.