As a sort of follow-up to yesterday, I find it interesting to discover that the police series 19-2 was tentatively called Deux beux before it was launched.
Deux beux? What are beux?
The TV series 19-2 revolves around two cops. Does that give you a clue? 😉
Un beu is a slang word for cop.
Beu is a pronunciation variant of the word bœuf. You’ll come across the pronunciation beu in Québec: un beu, deux beux.
I’m glad they didn’t go with the title Deux beux. The series 19-2 is heavy, and a title like Deux beux doesn’t convey that. It feels much too informal to be taken seriously as the title of a series like this.
A reminder about pronouncing bœuf (the animal) in French:
bœuf is pronounced [beuf]; and also in Québec [beu]
bœufs is pronounced [beu]
This article on the OQLF site tells us that, beginning in the 16th century, bœuf was pronounced as both [beuf] and [beu] in the singular. Its pronunciation was unstable.
It wasn’t until the 19th century that [beuf] in the singular and [beu] in the plural became stable as the standard pronunciations.
