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TABARNAK!

From tabernacle, a decorated wooden box in the form of an armoire that holds consecrated Host. Variations: Tabarouette, tabarnouche, tableau.

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Having the beaver say “tabernacle” was “a gross error”, Mr. Gougeon said, but it was the result of ignorance. “They used this word, not knowing just how unacceptable and vulgar it is here,” he said. He said the book comes from Flammarion’s Père Castor line, which has published quality children’s literature for 80 years.

“It’s not a publisher that seeks to provoke,” he said.

After being contacted by a La Presse journalist about the issue this week, Mr. Gougeon said he decided to immediately halt sales of the book. Only a handful of unsold copies remained in Quebec and he has had all but one of them destroyed.

He said the book was published in 2008 and about 100 copies have been sold in the province, including many to libraries. La rivière sans retour was available Thursday at seven branches of Montreal’s public libraries. A descriptive note in the libraries’ online catalogue acknowledges the book’s salty content, saying it “celebrates courage and protection of nature. However, we are surprised to read on p. 28: Taberna-a-a-cle!”

At Flammarion headquarters in Paris, literary director Bénédicte Roux, chalked the mistake up to the “subtleties of language” in different countries. She said any future editions of the book will remove the offending word, but the publisher does not intend to pull existing copies from the shelves.

“I understand it’s causing a stir on your side of the Atlantic,” she said. “I want to truly apologize, but there is nothing more I can do.”

This is not the first time an attempt to use Quebec vernacular has landed the French in trouble. In 2009, French politician Pierre Lasbordes sought a typical Quebec expression for “exhausted” to greet then premier Jean Charest on a visit the French Senate. He asked Mr. Charest whether he was “plotte à terre” after his long trip.

He was embarrassed to later learn that, in Quebec, plotte is slang for vagina.

National Post