Coudon! Sometimes you’ll hear French speakers from Quebec start off a sentence like that, with a surprised tone. But what does coudon mean?
Coudon, c’est quoi le problème?
Hey, what’s the problem?
Coudon, y’é où ton frère?
Hey, where’s your brother?
Hey, where’d your brother go?
Coudon comes from the expression écoute donc. It can often be translated with “hey” and shows a speaker’s surprise.
It’s also spelled coudonc, but it’s pronounced coudon.
[This entry was inspired by the character Valérie in Tout sur moi, “Santé!,” season 4, episode 10, Radio-Canada, Montreal, 17 November 2010.]
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