Issue number 33 of the magazine Urbania has just come out. You may remember this magazine from earlier entries, where I recommended it as interesting reading material in French.
Ironically, just as the cold weather is ending, issue number 33 is devoted to the theme hiver québécois.
But as the authors of the magazine explain on page 2, to be authentic, it was important that the writers prepare this issue during the winter months, avec une pelle dans la main et les deux bottes dans la neige, and then release it in the spring.
On page 9, we read an interesting fact in the section L’hiver en chiffres:
27 100 : Nombre de Québécois qui se blessent chaque année en pelletant ou en soufflant leur neige. […]
27 100, that’s the number of Québécois who injure themselves every year by shovelling their snow or using a snow blower.
In entry #383, you read about the verb pelleter (to shovel). Remember, it’s pronounced pelter.
pelleter la neige, to shovel the snow
pelleter les marches, to shovel the steps
pelleter l’entrée, to shovel the driveway
And souffler la neige, that’s to clean the snow away like this, with a snow blower (une souffleuse).
[Quote from “L’hiver en chiffres,” Urbania, printemps 2012, numéro 33, Montréal, p. 9.]
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