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Do you know these 8 French items related to winter? (#701)

19 December 2013 by OffQc

It surely comes as no surprise to you — Montréal gets a lot of snow in the winter: de la marde blanche (the white shit)!

If you drive a car, you’ll need a shovel, une pelle, to dig yourself out after a snowfall, une bordée de neige.

If you have a driveway, you’ll need to shovel that too, pelleter l’entrée. To pronounce pelleter, say it with two syllables: pelter. You can also say pelleter la neige.

When snow is fresh, it looks clean. But when it begins to melt on the roads, it turns into slush, de la slush (de la sloche).

At street corners in downtown Montréal, you’ll often need to jump across a pool of water.

If you get your feet wet in the slush and water, you’re going to be pretty miserable.

Be sure to choose a good pair of winter boots for walking around in Montréal, choisir une bonne paire de bottes d’hiver.

If you’re new to Montréal, walking on slippery sidewalks requires practice. You’ll need those good boots to avoid breaking your back by falling down on the ice, se péter le dos en pognant une débarque sur la glace!

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Posted in Entries #701-750 | Tagged bordée de neige, botte, débarque, driveway, entrée, français québécois, hiver, marde blanche, Montréal, neige, pelle, pelleter, pogner, Québécois French, sidewalk, slush, snow, trottoir, winter | 7 Comments

7 Responses

  1. on 19 December 2013 at 20:23 Jan Drynan

    Thanks Felix, I don’t think I’ll need those words much here in Queensland (Australia) but will enjoy trying them out on my son in law who is from Quebec. Here there is a prediction of 36 deg C for Christmas eve! I would love to visit Montreal one day even with de la sloshe et de la marde blanche! Enjoy your blog very much as I’m trying to adapt my school French to Quebec French. I sometimes think Quebec French must be a bit like Aussie English.


    • on 19 December 2013 at 21:02 OffQc

      36 degrees… looks like your Christmas will be 50 degrees warmer than ours. Nice!

      I think the comparison of Québec French to Australian English is a good one. Many people liken the differences between Québec and continental French to British and American English, but this isn’t quite right. Both of those varieties of English form a standard in the anglophone world.

      Australian English and Québec French are closer in weight internationally and neither forms a standard outside its area of use.


      • on 7 January 2014 at 20:44 Jan Drynan

        That makes sense. Australian English can be hard for anyone who has only learnt standard English in school. I love how you use instances from everyday life to explain the language. I assume that like in Australia, there is probably a difference between usage in different educational levels, situations and probably gender too. For instance, I understand most Aussie swear words but would not usually! use them unless provoked 🙂 but it does not bother me if the mechanic at the garage uses them, as long as it isn’t about my car 🙂
        I’m sorry I missed your reply earlier. Christmas was indeed hot, and busy. I’d actually love to experience a cold Christmas, but perhaps not quite as cold as you have been having.


  2. on 19 December 2013 at 22:12 Bev O'Grady

    Great blog. I have struggled to learn a second language for decades with no success. Your articles have been inspirational and I woke up with French words rolling around in my head this morning. I will use this latest vocabulaire in Timmins (Ontario) when I visit in janvier. Merci!


    • on 19 December 2013 at 22:43 OffQc

      Enjoy your stay in Timmins, and good luck with the cold there in January!


  3. on 20 December 2013 at 06:25 Gene

    Felix,
    Is it definitely en pognant une débarque or could it be en prenant une débarque?


    • on 20 December 2013 at 10:52 OffQc

      Yes, prendre une débarque is used too. Pogner is often used as an informal way of saying prendre.



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