If you live in Montréal and read the Métro while riding the métro, perhaps you’ve come across Julie Laferrière’s column Hors du commun on Tuesdays.
In her column, Laferrière shares her experiences while using public transportation in Montréal.
In her article La noblesse (9 Dec. 2013), Laferrière describes an experience with a homeless man at métro Saint-Laurent: The homeless man asks her for change, but she doesn’t have any. Instead, she offers him the nuts she’s just bought at the dépanneur. The only problem is that he’s got no teeth and can’t eat them. The experience moves her.
In her article, there are several québécois usages that we can look at. On her way to the métro, Laferrière describes how hungry she was:
(…) je n’ai rien avalé depuis la toast de 7 h ce matin.
I haven’t eaten anything since the toast (that I ate) at 7 this morning.
She decides to go the dépanneur to buy a snack:
J’opte alors pour le dépanneur du métro Saint-Laurent et je jette mon dévolu sur un gros sac de noix.
So I decide to go the dépanneur at métro Saint-Laurent, and I set my sights on a big bag of nuts.
After she buys the nuts, a homeless man calls out to her and asks for twenty-five cents:
Madame, t’as-tu vingt-cinq cennes S.V.P.?
Madame, d’ya have twenty-five cents, please?
Laferrière doesn’t have change, so she offers him the nuts she’s just bought. With a large toothless smile, the man tells her:
T’es ben fine, mais j’pourrai pas faire grand-chose avec ça.
You’re really kind, but there’s not much I can do with that [with the nuts].
To read the entire article, click here or on the image above.
une toast
a piece of toast
Toast is a feminine word in French.
un dépanneur
a shop where you can buy snacks, cigarettes, milk, etc.
t’as-tu…?
ya got…?
d’ya have…?
Read more about this informal usage here.
une cenne
one cent
vingt-cinq cennes
twenty-five cents
ben [sounds like bain]
really
t’es ben fine [said to a woman]
you’re really nice, kind
t’es ben fin [said to a man]
you’re really nice, kind
There are some other expressions in the article that you might like to learn:
il flatte son chien
he’s patting his dog
j’ai une boule dans la gorge
I’ve got a knot in my throat [because of emotion]
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