Design Shopp’s French Canadian comrades curated an impressive list of Québécois expressions. Expressions are a huge part of a country’s culture (or of a Province’s, in our case), and we are glad to share a small part of that legacy with all of you for the National Holiday, la Saint-Jean-Baptiste!

Avoir des motons dans l’estomac

“Avoir des motons dans l’estomac” translates to “having knots in the stomach”, but it really means being distraught or being anxious. “Motons” which doesn’t have an exact translation in English (or in French for that matter), expresses those stress knots or that feeling when you feel so tense that it seems like something might explode right this moment.

Quelque chose me chicote

“Chicoter” is a verb meaning “to bother”. When someone says “quelque chose dans la conception de ce logo me chicote”, it means “something in this logo bothers me”.

Faire la baboune

“Faire la baboune” cannot be translated either in French or English, as “baboune” is an invented word. It can’t be translated but it does mean something. “Faire la baboune” means sulking. “Baboune” is a type of facial expression, which is that type of face a child makes when he sulks. You won’t find the word “baboune” anywhere else other than in the québécois way of speaking.

Je ne suis pas né de la dernière neige

“Je ne suis pas né de la dernière neige” translates to “I wasn’t born last snowstorm”. The expression means that you have more experience. In France, they say “je ne suis pas né de la dernière pluie” which means “I wasn’t born the last time it rained”, but since Quebec’s weather is prominent to snow, the expression was adapted.

Broche à foin

Something that is done “broche à foin” is something that was done with very little attention and in a confusing matter. You can sometimes hear a few people, during festival season in Montreal, “l’organisation de ce festival est broche à foin” (the organization of this festival is “broche à foin”).

J’ai la chienne

“J’ai la chienne” litteraly means, “I’ve got the dog”. That doesn’t mean much, right? Even in French, this expression is strange, but it means “I’m scared”.

T’es mieux de te tenir le corps raide et les oreilles molles

This one is a weird one too; it refers to how a dog reacts when it’s scared. “T’es mieux de te tenir le corps raide et les oreilles molles” translates to “You better have a stiff body and soft ears”, but it really means “you better stay put and quiet”.

Beurrer épais

When you put too much butter (or Nutella!) on your bread, you have “beurré épais”, but “beurrer épais” also is used to express that someone has exaggerated a situation. “Beurrer épais” litteraly means “to apply a thick coating of butter”. Buttering up a story to impress others.

On n’est pas sortis du bois

“On n’est pas sortis du bois” litteraly translates to “we’re still in the woods”, meaning that there still is work to be done and that our concerns are not over, as if we were still stuck in the forest and trying to find our way out.

S’enfarger dans les fleurs du tapis

“S’enfarger dans les fleurs du tapis” translates to “tripping over the flowers in the carpet”, but it means giving importance to insignificant details. “S’enfarger” is also a word that you will not hear anywhere else than in Québec.

Un bon jack

“Un bon jack” translates to “a good jack”, which means a good (or nice) person. The people of Design Shopp are all “des bons jacks”!

Ambitionner su’l’pain béni

“Ambitionner su’l’pain béni” litteraly means “to over-ambition on the holy bread”, but the expression means to abuse of a good situation. “Su’l’pain” is a contraction of “sur le pain” which means “on the bread”. Contractions of that nature are very often heard in the québécois parler.

Grand parleur, p’tit faiseur

“Grand parleur, p’tit faiseur” or “Big talker, small do-er”, is exactly what it seems. This is said of someone who speaks a lot but does very little.

Aller aux vues

“Aller aux vues” translates to “going to the views”, but it means “going to the movies”. When someone says “c’est arrangé avec le gars des vues”, which translates to “the guy from the views arranged it”, it means that a story you see on TV was fixed, or embellished for it to look better (like reality TV).

C’t’écœurant

This one is strange as “écœurant” in French originally means “horrible”, but in Quebec, saying “c’t’écœurant” means, “it’s awesome”! “C’t’” is pronounced “ste”. Another expression that resembles this is “malade”. “Malade” means “sick”, just like the English expression, “c’est malade” means “that’s sick”, meaning “that’s cool”.

There you go folks, we hope that you learned a few new expressions! Have you heard other strange expressions or words around you?

À la revoyure! (See you soon!)

