This week I've been reading a book set in Montreal, in the French-speaking portion of Canada. The author tosses in the occasional French or French-Canadian word when nothing in English quite fits. One of these? "Tabarnac!"
I've heard it from other French-Canadians, too. I could tell from context that it's an expletive of some sort, but I had no idea what it meant until I decided to search out the actual definition.
Enter the multi-language word nerd's best friend, Wordreference.com. I love, love, LOVE this site. It's not your standard foreign-language dictionary. Enter in a word, and it gives you not just the definitions, but also typical phrases that include the word. And if even that doesn't give you what you need, you can ask a question in the Forum, where native speakers will give you context. It is unbelievably awesome. If you're a word nerd.
"Tabarnac" is French-Canadian rather than standard French, so it wasn't in the dictionary. (I can say with confidence that it is not due to the fact that it's an expletive. Please don't ask what tests I performed to allow me to say this definitively.) But the word was a topic of a couple of Forum questions and answers.
First, from an American English speaker:
A guy I recently met who is French-Canadian (and quite funny) says the word "tabernac" (spelling?) quite often...my interpretation is that this is some kind of 'curse' en francais. Am I right, and if so, is there a direct translation for this to english?
Answer 1, from a French person, quoting from the Urban Dictionary. (Urban Dictionary is another one of this word nerd's great loves.)
Tabernac is one of the worst curse words you can use in French Canada. French Canada has a strong tradition of Roman Catholicism and this sacriligious word takes the word "tabernacle" in vain.
And, to make this even more interesting, another answer, this one from a French Canadian:
Please, don't ever think that we (French-Canadians) say always that kind of words. It is considered as a lack of education. Personally, I could say those words when I'm awfully angry. So, maybe once a year, not more.
Um...what?!? The word that comes from and essentially means "tabernacle" is referred to in the same way we would refer to words involing sex or excrement? I'm so confused!
Fortunately, it's the Forum to the rescue again, with a link to this article:
In French-Speaking Canada, the Sacred Is Also Profane: Quebecers Turn to Church Terms, Rather Than the Sexual or Scatological, to Vent Their Anger
If you're a fellow word nerd, you have to read the entire article. For everybody else, some of the highlights:
English-speaking Canadians use profanities that would be well understood in the United States, many of them scatological or sexual terms. But the Quebecois prefer to turn to religion when they are mad. They adopt commonplace Catholic terms -- and often creative permutations of them -- for swearing.
In doing so, their oaths speak volumes about the history of this French province.
"When you get mad, you look for words that attack what represses you," said Louise Lamarre, a Montreal cinematographer who must tread lightly around the language, depending on whether her films are in French or English. "In America, you are so Puritan that the swearing is mostly about sex. Here, since we were repressed so long by the church, people use religious terms."
And the words that are shocking in English -- including the slang for intercourse -- are so mild in Quebecois French they appear routinely in the media. But not church terms.
Or, in other words, if you're in Quebec, feel free to discuss bodily functions and bedroom activities.
But whatever you do, don't mention the Tabernacle!
2 comments:
If you're a word-nerd, you'll like "Reading the OED" by Ammon Shea.
As somebody who considers a dictionary of etymology pleasure reading, that is definitely looking like something right up my alley!
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