Dan Bigras is a singer from Quebec. The image that he presents is that of a tough guy. In this article from Métro Montréal, Bigras is described as un «tough» émouvant — a tough guy who moves you (through his music).
Un tough is picked up from English but used in a slightly different way in French. You can call someone “a tough” in French rather than “a tough guy.”
C’est un tough, lui. Un vrai tough!
He’s a tough guy. A real tough guy!
Tough sounds like toffe.
If you heard yé toffe, it’s an informal way of saying “he’s tough.”
In a scene from 30 vies, two male students are working together to create characters for a story. One of the boys tries out his new character — he pretends to smoke a cigarette and talks like a tough guy. The other boy comments on his performance:
Wow, tout un tough, hein!
Wow, (you’re) a real tough guy, huh!
Their teacher walks past. The boy makes a comment to her about his character, describing him as tough in French. The teacher says this about his choice of vocabulary:
Tu peux dire «dur» au lieu de «tough», là. Ça veut dire la même chose.
The boy, more concerned about the tone conveyed by the word tough than the fact that it’s an anglicism, says this to his teacher:
Ben non! «Dur», c’est moins tough que «tough»!
[The quotes above were taken from 30 vies, season 2, episode 37, Radio-Canada, Montreal, 14 November 2011.]
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