OffQc | Quebec French Guide

I like to have a little fun with this blog, so sometimes I get inspired to make up a new term. This usually happens when I can’t find an existing term to describe an idea in my head, or after I’ve had too much coffee to drink.

belgiquébécois, belgiquébécoise, related to both Belgian French and Quebec French. The expression à tantôt! is belgiquébécoise because it can be heard in Belgium and Quebec. Other belgiquébécoiseries include the names of the three meals: le déjeuner (breakfast), le dîner (lunch), le souper (supper). In fact, according to M. Robert (le nouveau et le petit), these names can also be heard in places like Switzerland, Congo, Rwanda, Burundi, the north of France…, so they should be called congorwandonordofrancobelgiquéb… oh never mind.

cowboy (cowgirl), a learner of French who tries to “go it alone” too much instead of cultivating francointerdependence. Example: “Oh mon Dieu, you are such a cowboy with all those grammar books and dictionaries.” [Inspired by the French version of "Drive" by Daniel H. Pink, La vérité sur ce qui nous motive.]

le dzidzu, a word used to describe the way the letter d is pronounced dz before the French i and u sounds. [Example: dire is pronounced dzire, and dune is pronounced dzune. First used ici and là. The verb dzidzuer also exists. Example: Je dzidzue, donc je suis.] See also tsitsu.

francointerdependence, healthy cultivation of relationships with francophones so that learning occurs alongside them, and not in an isolated state with books like grammar guides and dictionaries. It also has an adjective form. Example: “I just communicated with a francophone and learned something new. How very francointerdependent of me.” See also cowboy.

LBSoD, see Linguistic Blue Screen of Death.

Linguistic Blue Screen of Death (LBSoD), an imagined blue-screen-fatal-error message that may appear in your head telling you that it’s game over when a bilingual francophone switches to English on you after you’ve said something in French. [The LBSoD is a figment of your imagination. It's nothing more than an excellent offcois moment in disguise.]

offcois, offcoise, (from the name OffQc) NOUN: a learner of Quebec French who approaches his or her learning with a healthy sense of adventure, curiosity, playfulness and openness to making mistakes. ADJECTIVE: having anything to do with this blog, its readers, or its author, and any absurdité that comes from it and them and him; anything to do with a positive attitude in learning French. [The first known spelling was offqcois but a wise lectrice offcoise named Diane didn't like la lettre q... et moi non plus.]

OffQc, the name of this blog, which comes from the older name Offbeat French from Quebec. [I used that full name for a while but then I thought it sounded really stupid, so I shortened it to OffQc to make it sound sexy and mysterious.]

off-quoi?, what a francophone may say to you in that thing called the “real” world if you choose to pepper your conversation with the words on this page or even just start talking about OffQc. [You've been warned.]

le tsitsu, a word used to describe the way the letter t is pronounced ts before the French i and u sounds. [Example: tirer is pronounced tsirer, and tube is pronounced tsube. First used ici and là. The verb tsitsuer also exists. Example: J'aime tsitsuer en regardant les étoiles.] See also dzidzu.