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The literal translation of the French verb ''sacrer'' is "to consecrate". However, in Quebec it is the proper word for the form of ''' Profanity ''' used in ''' Quebec French '''. The noun form is ''sacre''. Quebec French uses a number of the same types of foul language as in standard French, dealing with sex and excrement (such as ''merde'', " Shit ", which is sometimes pronounced ''marde'' in Quebec French, rather as the Scots say " Shite "). However, these are usually rather mild, and stronger profanity is expressed using words from Catholic Religion and Liturgy . This usage of religion for profanity is also present in Acadian French , mostly spoken in New Brunswick , Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island . HISTORY The sacres originated in the early 19th Century in a time 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 a Quebec French "goddamn it". It was in use as far back as the 1830 s as far as is known. The word "sacrer" in its current meaning is believed to come from the expression ''Ne dites pas ça, c'est sacré'' ("Don't say that, it is sacred/holy"). Eventually, ''sacrer'' started to refer to the thing francophone Quebecois were not supposed to say. This is more than probably related to the 4th commandment: "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain", by citing terms and objects related to the church, people were attempting to express their exasperation toward religion by often breaking this commandment. As a result of the Quiet Revolution in the 1960 s, the influence of the Catholic Church in Quebec has declined. This has had no effect, however, on the use of sacres, which is as widespread as ever. LIST OF COMMON ''SACRES'' These sacre are given in a phonetic spelling to indicate the differences in pronunciation from the original word, several of which, notably the deletion of final consonants and change of to before are typical of Slang ish Quebec French (also called Joual ).
Sometimes ''saint'' ("holy", "saint"), ''contre'' ("against") or ''maudit'' ("damned") is added to the above-mentioned words for more effect. Mild forms Most terms in ''sacre'' have modified, milder Euphemistic forms (see Minced Oath ). Such forms are not usually considered nearly as rude as the original, with the exception of ''simonak''.
''Tabarnak'' and ''ciboire'' are sometimes melded into ''taboire'' (also ''taboâre'' or ''taboêre''), ironically regarded as only a mild curse. USE A very strong way to express anger or frustration is to use the words ''tabarnak'', ''sacrament'', and ''câlice'' (in any order). Depending on the context and the tone of the phrases, it might make everybody quiet, but some people use those words to add rhythm to sentences. Usually, more than one of these words is used in an expression. The words are simply connected with ''de'' (''of''), without any restrictions. Long strings of invective can be concatenated in this way, and the resulting expression doesn't have to have any concrete meaning; for example, ''Mon osti de saint-sacrament de câlisse de crisse!'' Non-religious terms may also be strung together in this way, as in ''mon crisse de char est fucké'' ("my damn car is broken/fucked up"). An example of this can be heard in the movie '') of buttfucked of your mother". French-speaking visitors to Quebec should note that although these usages may seem comical to those who are used to other kinds of profanity, they are strong curse words and should only be used in a very familiar atmosphere or when one actually means to offend or insult. Interestingly, the word ''fucké'' (with meanings varying from "crazy, disturbed" to "broken down") is much milder than "s rioted in Montreal because a concert by the band The Exploited had been canceled, TV news reporters solemnly read out a few lyrics and song titles from their album ''Fuck the System''. However, the same is not true of Quebec's English-language television stations, which follow the same guidelines as do other stations in Canada . NON-SWEARING USES A slang term with the preposition ''en'' means "a lot of": ''d'la bouffe en tabarnak'' (or ''en crisse'', etc.) means "a lot of food". Sacres are often used as verbs too. For example, ''câlisser une volée'' means to beat up. There are constructions like ''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'' ("not give a fuck"), ''déconcrisser''. Some are even found as adverbs: ''crissement'' meaning ''very'' or ''fucking'' as in ''this is fucking sweet''. These expressions are found less commonly in literature, but rappers and other singers often use ''crisse'' and ''câlisse'' as a rhyme. More traditional singers also use these words, for example 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 violamment Jaques qui était en colère" (Jules, who was irritated, violently expulsed Jaques who was angry) becomes "Le sacrament qui était en calvaire a calissé dehors l'ostie en tabarnac". SACRES OUTSIDE QUEBEC FRENCH This use of liturgical profanity is not unique to Quebec French. A few other dialects in the world also feature this kind of profanity, for instance Austro-Bavarian . ''La hostia'' is an expletive expression in some Spanish dialects. In Catalan , ''hòstia'' is used and is frequently abbreviated to ''osti''. Sheila Fischman 's translation of ''La Guerre, Yes Sir!'' ("War, you bet!", 1968) by Roch Carrier leaves many sacres in the original Quebec French, since they have no real equivalent in English. She gives a brief explanation and history of these terms in her introduction, including a few not listed here. Irish Catholics of old employed a similar practice, whereby 'ejaculations' were used to express frustration without cursing or profaning (taking the Lord's name in vain). This typically involved the recitation of a rhyming couplet, where a shocked person might say 'Jesus who, for love of me/Died on the Cross at Calvary' instead of 'Jesus!' Amusingly, this is often abbreviated simply to 'Jesus-hoo-fer-luv-a-me', an expression still heard among elderly Irish people. |