• Home
  • OffQc
  • About
  • Start
  • Off-quoi?
  • Listen to Québécois French

OffQc | Québécois French Guide

For lovers of French + diehard fans of all things québécois!

Feeds:
Posts
Comments
« 100 dzidzu and tsitsu words to learn in Québécois French! (#732)
13 examples of the French verb “péter” with 6 québécois expressions (#734) »

3 verbs to learn in French from a blog post about a biking accident (#733)

23 February 2014 by OffQc

On Urbania, Jonathan Roberge writes about an accident he had while mountain biking.

The accident probably had something to do with the fact that he chose to go mountain biking on a volcano in Peru at an altitude of 4600 metres.

He says:

Faire du vélo de montagne sur un volcan, au Pérou! À 4600 mètres d’altitude, quelle idée de marde parfaite pour moi!

Mountain biking on a volcano in Peru! At 4600 metres in altitude, what a perfectly shitty idea for me!

Altitude is a tsitsu word. It’s pronounced al-tsi-tsude in Québec.

In his accident, he suffered massive injuries, like: deux vertèbres de chiées dans la nuque (two messed up vertebrae in the neck), quatre côtes fracturées (four fractured ribs), la mâchoire débarquée (a dislocated jaw) and all sorts of other fun stuff.

I’ve pulled three verbs from his text for us to look at:

1. embarquer
2. chialer
3. pogner

1. embarquer

To get to the volcano, Roberge paid a guy $100 to take him there by jeep.

Je donne 100 $ au gars pis j’embarque dans son 4×4 […].

I give the guy $100 and then get in his 4×4.

Embarquer can be used to get in a car, and débarquer to get out: embarquer dans l’auto (to get in the car), débarquer de l’auto (to get out of the car). If you’re travelling on the bus or métro with friends, you can tell them on débarque ici (this is where we get off) when you arrive at your stop.

4×4 is said as quatre par quatre.

In addition to dollar, you’ll also hear the word piasse used a lot: 100 piasses = 100 dollars.

Remember: gars is pronounced gâ, and pis (a reduction of puis) is pronounced pi.

2. chialer

Roberge wasn’t the only foreign traveller in the jeep. There were also some fussy British girls.

Dans le jeep, il y avait des princesses britanniques habillées comme M.I.A. qui chialaient parce qu’elles n’avaient pas de réseau pour leur téléphone intelligent […].

In the jeep, there were some British princesses dressed like M.I.A. who kept complaining that their smartphones had no signal.

In Québec, chialer is pronounced chiâler. The letter combination iâ comes close to what “yaw” sounds like in English. This verb is frequently used in the same sense as se plaindre sans arrêt.

3. pogner

Roberge was going too fast on his bike. When he hit a hole in the path, he came crashing down hard on a rock.

J’allais vite, beaucoup trop vite, j’ai pogné un trou et j’ai été propulsé sur une énorme roche.

I was going fast, way too fast. I hit a hole and was sent flying into an enormous rock.

The verb pogner (rhymes with cogner) is often heard in Québec in the sense of “to catch” or “to grab.” What Roberge “caught” here was a big hole in the path that sent him flying off his bike. You can learn all about the verb pogner here.

_ _ _

French quotes by: Jonathan Roberge, « Le Pérou, c’est médium le fun », Urbania, 21 février 2014.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Posted in Entries #701-750 | Tagged chiâler, embarquer, français québécois, gars, Jonathan Roberge, Le Pérou c'est médium le fun, mountain biking, Pérou, Peru, piasse, pogner, Québécois French, tsitsu, Urbania, vélo de montagne |

  • Books

    The OffQc bookshop is always open. See all titles here.

    Contracted French Put an end to not understanding spoken French by learning the most important contractions used in speech

    C’est what? Overview of common features of spoken Québécois French; pave the way for further independent study

    1000 Learn or review a large amount of everyday words and expressions used in Québécois French in condensed form

  • Follow OffQc by email. It's free. Enter your email address in the box below.

    Join 1,544 other followers

  • Read a random entry
    OffQc bookshop
    OffQc on Twitter
    OffQc on Pinterest
    • Listen to Québécois French: Almost 100 videos + transcripts
  • Number

    • Entries #1151-1200
    • Entries #1101-1150
    • Entries #1051-1100
    • Entries #1001-1050
    • Entries #951-1000
    • Entries #901-950
    • Entries #851-900
    • Entries #801-850
    • Entries #751-800
    • Entries #701-750
    • Entries #651-700
    • Entries #601-650
    • Entries #551-600
    • Entries #501-550
    • Entries #451-500
    • Entries #401-450
    • Entries #351-400
    • Entries #301-350
    • Entries #251-300
    • Entries #201-250
    • Entries #151-200
    • Entries #101-150
    • Entries #51-100
    • Entries #1-50
  • Month

    • June 2017
    • September 2016
    • August 2016
    • July 2016
    • June 2016
    • May 2016
    • April 2016
    • March 2016
    • February 2016
    • January 2016
    • December 2015
    • November 2015
    • October 2015
    • September 2015
    • August 2015
    • July 2015
    • June 2015
    • May 2015
    • April 2015
    • March 2015
    • February 2015
    • January 2015
    • December 2014
    • November 2014
    • October 2014
    • September 2014
    • August 2014
    • July 2014
    • June 2014
    • May 2014
    • April 2014
    • March 2014
    • February 2014
    • January 2014
    • December 2013
    • November 2013
    • October 2013
    • September 2013
    • August 2013
    • July 2013
    • June 2013
    • May 2013
    • April 2013
    • March 2013
    • February 2013
    • January 2013
    • December 2012
    • November 2012
    • September 2012
    • August 2012
    • July 2012
    • June 2012
    • May 2012
    • April 2012
    • March 2012
    • February 2012
    • January 2012
    • December 2011
    • November 2011
    • October 2011
    • September 2011
    • August 2011
    • July 2011
    • June 2011
    • May 2011
    • April 2011
    • March 2011
    • February 2011
    • January 2011
    • December 2010

Blog at WordPress.com.

WPThemes.