Mailbox sign using French-Canadian profanity. The English (approximate) translation is "No fucking admail". Tabarnak is the strongest form of that sacre, derived from tabernacle (where the Eucharist is stored, in Roman Catholicism).
The sacres originated in the early 19th century, when the social control exerted by the Catholic clergy was increasingly a source of frustration.[2] One of the oldest sacres is sacrament, which can be thought of as the Franco-Canadian equivalent of the English "goddamn it". It is known to have been in use as early as the 1830s.[citation needed] The word sacrer in its current meaning is believed to come from the expression Ne dites pas ça, c'est sacré ("Don't say that, it is sacred/holy"). Eventually, sacrer started to refer to the words Quebecers were not supposed to say. This is likely related to the commandment "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (Exodus 20:7). The influence and social importance of Catholicism at that time allowed sacres to become powerful forms of profanity.
As a result of the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s, the influence of the Roman Catholic Church in Quebec has declined but the profanity still remains in use today.[2]
List of common sacres
These sacres are commonly given in a phonetic spelling to indicate the differences in pronunciation from the original word, several of which (notably, the deletion of final consonants and change of [ɛ] to [a] before /ʁ/) are typical of informal Quebec French. The nouns here can also be modified for use as verbs (see "Non-profane uses", below). Additionally, some forms, notably ostie and criss, can become semi-adjectival when followed by de, as in Va t'en, ostie de chat! (Scram, you fucking cat!); tabarnak is often added at the end for extra emphasis.
Often, several of these words are strung together when used adjectivally, as in Va t'en, ostie d'câlice de chat à marde! (see "Intricate forms", below) and many combinations are possible. Since swear words are voluntarily blasphemous, the spellings are usually different from the words from which they originate. For example, câlice can be written kâliss, calice, caliss, cawliss, and so on. There is no general agreement on how to write these words, and the Office québécois de la langue française does not regulate them.
Most sacres have modified, milder euphemistic forms (see minced oath). Such forms are not usually considered nearly as rude as the original.[2] They are the equivalent of English words such as "gosh", "heck", or "darn". Many of the euphemistic forms are only similar-sounding to religious terms, so are considered not to denigrate the Church directly. [3]
câlice: câline, câlif, câlique, câline de bine, câlibine, câlibouette
The following are also considered milder profanity:
bâtard: "bastard"
toton: "boob", used to denote a breast or a complete idiot
torrieu (tort à Dieu): "harm to God"
marde (merde): "shit", used in conjunction with other words, sometimes profanity: esti de marde, silo de marde, tas de marde, mange donc un char de marde, pédale de marde, ciboulette de marde, or château de marde, Internet de marde
câliboire[ˈkɑːˌlɪbwɑːʁ]: a mix between câlice and ciboire
Sometimes older people unable to bring themselves to swear with church words or their derivatives would make up ostensibly innocuous phrases, such as cinq six boîtes de tomates vartes (literally, "five or six boxes of green tomatoes", varte being slang for verte, "green"). This phrase when pronounced quickly by a native speaker sounds like saint-siboire de tabarnak ("holy ciborium of the tabernacle"). Another example of a benign word that is church sounding is coltord, which was simply an anglicism for "coal-tar", but pronounced just so, sounds like a merged câlice and tort ("harm").
In Québec French, swear words can be combined into more powerful combinations to express extreme anger or disgust.[2] These intricate uses of French profanities can be difficult to master. The combinations are endless; some people in both Quebec and francophone communities in other provinces community consider mixing and matching swear words to be a sort of skilled art.
Mon tabarnak j'vais te décâlisser la yeule, câlice or mon tabarnak, m'a tu t'l'a décâlisser ta gran' yeule: Décâlisser means "to fuck something up"; yeule comes from the derived noun gueule, which refers to an animal's throat or maw, but is used in joual to mean the human mouth or face. The whole sentence can be summarized as "I'm gonna beat your fucking face in, you motherfucker".
Esti de câlice de tabarnak: Very strong expression of anger. Can also be used as a descriptive phrase expressing anger or derision: Esti de câlice de tabarnak, c'est pas possible comment que t'es cave ("Jesus fucking Christ, there's no way you can be this stupid").
Crisse de câlice de tabarnak d'esti de sacrament: Expressive of extreme anger.
Crisse de câlice de tabarnak d'esti de sacrament de trou viarge: Expressive of very extreme anger.
J'm'en calice: Denotes extreme apathy and suppressed anger, similar to the English "I don't give a fuck". J'm'en calice des politiciens: "I don't give a fuck about politicians."
Esti d'épais à marde!: Expression of anger aimed at someone perceived to be lacking in intellectual acumen; épais ("thick") is used as a derogatory term meaning "idiot", with esti ("Eucharist") and à marde ("of shit") acting as intensifiers
Use
A very strong way to express anger or frustration is to use the words tabarnak, sacrament, and câlice. Depending on the context and the tone of the phrases, it might make everybody quiet, but some people use these words to add rhythm or emphasis to sentences.
Usually, more than one of these words is used in Franco-Canadian profanity. The words are simply connected with de (of), without any restrictions. Long strings of invective can be connected in this way, and the resulting expression does not have to have any concrete meaning—for example, Mon ostie de saint-sacrament de câlice de crisse (literally, "My host of (the) holy sacrament of (the) chalice of Christ"). Non-religious terms may also be strung together in this way, as in Mon crisse de char est brisé, câlisse de tabarnak (literally, "My Christ of (a) car is broken, chalice of (the) tabernacle").[2] In areas where English is also commonly spoken, English expletives are often inserted. Fuck ostie ("Fuck [the] host") is common in Quebec.
The adjective fucké (with meanings varying from "crazy, disturbed" to "broken down") is much milder than "fucked" is in English. It is routinely used in, for instance, TV sitcom dialogue.[2] The same goes for "shit" (which in Quebec French is used only as an interjection expressing dismay, never as the noun for excrement). When used as a verb, Va chier (literally, "Go shit"), means not to excrete but rather to "fuck off". When used in the past-tense chié, it is used exactly as fucké: Mes souliers sont chiés ("My shoes are fucked", literally: "My shoes are shitted").
Even English-language dialogue containing these words can appear on Quebec French-language television without bleeping. For example, in 2003, when punks rioted in Montreal because a concert by the band The Exploited had been cancelled, TV news reporters solemnly read out a few lyrics and song titles from their album Fuck the System. The same is not true of Quebec's English-language television stations, which follow the same guidelines as other stations in Canada. In November 2017 the CRTC ruled that "fuck" is not a swear word in French.[4]
Non-profane uses
A slang term with the preposition en means "a lot of": d’la bouffe en tabarnak (or en crisse, etc.) means "a lot of food", similar to English constructs such as "fuck-ton" or "shitload".
Sacres are often used as verbs too. For example, crisser une volée means "to beat the fuck out of", "to kick one's ass" or, more literally, "to give a beating", where crisser is used as a stronger form of "to give" (donner in French). There are constructions like détabarnaker or décrisser, which means "to leave" or "to destroy", using the dé prefix, which is about separation. Others include s’en câlicer or s’en crisser ("to not give a damn"), sacrer son camp or crisser son camp ("to run away"), and décâlisser. Some are even found as adverbs, such as sacrament, meaning "very" or "extremely", as in C’est sacrament bon ("This is really good"). En tabarnak or en câlisse can mean "extremely angry".
These expressions are found less commonly in literature, but rappers and other singers often use criss and câlice as a rhyme. More traditional singers also use these words, such as Quebec singer Plume Latraverse.
One fine example of the use of sacres as different word classes is a dialogue by Les Cyniques called Le cours de sacres. The phrase Jules, étant irrité, a expulsé violemment Jacques qui était en colère ("Jules, who was irritated, violently ejected Jacques, who was angry.") becomes Le sacrament qui était en calvaire a calissé dehors l’ostie en tabarnak ("That fucker, who was pissed off, kicked out that dickhead, who was fucking furious.") with each content word (noun, verb, adjective or adverb) replaced with a profane synonym. This usage of sacres is similar to the form of Russian swearing known as mat.
Comparison to other languages
The use of liturgical profanity is not unique to Canadian French or Quebec. In Italian, although to a lesser extent, some analogous words are in use: in particular, ostia (host) and (more so in the past) sacramento are relatively common expressions in the northeast, which are lighter (and a little less common) than the typical blasphemies in use in Italy, such as porco Dio (pig god) and porca Madonna (see Italian profanity). Modifying the terms into euphemistic equivalents is used in Italy; for example, ostia is commonly modified to osteria (a type of restaurant). The word sacramento has produced the verb sacramentare, which colloquially means "to use blasphemy".
Other dialects in the world feature this kind of profanity, such as the expressions Sakrament and Kruzifix noch einmal in Austro-Bavarian and krucifix in Czech. La hostia is an expletive expression in some Spanish dialects. In Catalan, hòstia is used and is frequently abbreviated to osti. Spanish also uses me cago en ... ("I shit on ...") followed by "God", "the blessed chalice", "the Virgin" and other terms, religious or not. It can be shortened to just ¡La virgen! or ¡Copón bendito! ("Blessed chalice!"). In Romanian, the profanity anafura mă-tii! ("Your mother's host!") is sometimes used with "Easter", "Christ", "Cross", "Commemoration" (parastas), "sacred oil lamp" (tu-i candela 'mă-sii), "God", "Church", etc.
Sheila Fischman's translation of La Guerre, yes Sir! (published under that title in French and English and meaning roughly "War, you bet!"), by Roch Carrier, leaves many sacres in the original Quebec French, since they have no real equivalent in English. She gives a brief explanation and history of these terms in her introduction, including a few not listed here. At a crucial point in the story, a boy swears in the presence of his father. For the first time, instead of beating or punishing his son, the father swears back. This represents the boy's passage into manhood.
Irish Catholics of old employed a similar practice, whereby "ejaculations" were used to express frustration without cursing or profaning (taking the Lord's name in vain). This typically involved the recitation of a rhyming couplet, where a shocked person might say, "Jesus who, for love of me / Died on the Cross at Calvary" instead of "Jesus!" This is often abbreviated simply to "Jesus-hoo-fer-luv-a-me", an expression still heard among elderly Irish people. "Jesus, Mary and Joseph!" is used in Quebec French: Jésus, Marie, Joseph!
Hungarians, primarily Catholics, follow the same suit: instead of Isten (God) or as a curse, az Istenit! (the God of it!), they often use another word which also begins with is: iskoláját (the school of it!) or istállóját (the stable of it!).
Profanity, also known as swearing, cursing, or cussing, involves the use of notionally offensive words for a variety of purposes, including to demonstrate disrespect or negativity, to relieve pain, to express a strong emotion, as a grammatical intensifier or emphasis, or to express informality or conversational intimacy. In many formal or polite social situations, it is considered impolite, and in some religious groups it is considered a sin. Profanity includes slurs, but most profanities are not slurs, and there are many insults that do not use swear words.
Shit is an English-language profanity. As a noun, it refers to fecal matter, and as a verb it means to defecate; in the plural, it means diarrhea. Shite is a common variant in British and Irish English. As a slang term, shit has many meanings, including: nonsense, foolishness, something of little value or quality, trivial and usually boastful or inaccurate talk or a contemptible person. It could also be used to refer to any other noun in general or as an expression of annoyance, surprise or anger.
The term four-letter word serves as a euphemism for words that are often considered profane or offensive.
A chalice is a drinking cup raised on a stem with a foot or base. The word is now used almost exclusively for the cups used in Christian liturgy as part of a service of the Eucharist, such as a Catholic mass. These are normally made of metal, but neither the shape nor the material is a requirement. Most have no handles, and in recent centuries the cup at the top has usually been a simple flared shape.
A minced oath is a euphemistic expression formed by deliberately misspelling, mispronouncing, or replacing a part of a profane, blasphemous, or taboo word or phrase to reduce the original term's objectionable characteristics. An example is "gosh" for "God", or fudge for fuck.
Mat is the term for vulgar, obscene, or profane language in Russian and some other Slavic language communities.
The Spanish language employs a wide range of swear words that vary between Spanish speaking nations and in regions and subcultures of each nation. Idiomatic expressions, particularly profanity, are not always directly translatable into other languages, and so most of the English translations offered in this article are very rough and most likely do not reflect the full meaning of the expression they intend to translate.[c]
Profanity in Finnish is used in the form of intensifiers, adjectives, adverbs and particles, and is based on varying taboos, with religious vulgarity being very prominent. It often uses aggressive mood which involves omission of the negative verb ei while implying its meaning with a swear word.
Sacrebleu or sacre bleu is a French expression used as a cry of surprise, irritation or displeasure. It is a minced oath form of the profane sacré Dieu, which, by some religions, is considered profane, due to one of the Ten Commandments in the Bible, which reads "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain."
The Korean language has a number of words that are considered profanity.
Fuck is an English-language profanity that often refers to the act of sexual intercourse, but is also commonly used as an intensifier or to convey disdain. While its origin is obscure, it is usually considered to be first attested to around 1475. In modern usage, the term fuck and its derivatives are used as a noun, a verb, an adjective, an interjection or an adverb. There are many common phrases that employ the word as well as compounds that incorporate it, such as motherfucker and fuck off.
Italian profanity are profanities that are blasphemous or inflammatory in the Italian language.
The following is a list of words and formulations commonly used as profanity throughout Romania.
Like natural languages, the constructed language Esperanto contains profane words and indecent vocabulary. Some of this was formulated out of the established core vocabulary, or by giving specific profane or indecent senses to regularly formed Esperanto words. Other instances represent informal neologisms that remain technically outside the defined vocabulary of the language, but have become established by usage.
Profanity in science fiction (SF) shares all of the issues of profanity in fiction in general, but has several unique aspects of its own, including the use of alien profanities.
It is common to find minced oaths in literature and media. Writers often include minced oaths instead of profanity in their writing to avoid offending their audience or incurring censorship.
Hokkien is one of the largest Chinese language groups worldwide. Profanity in Hokkien most commonly involves sexual references and scorn of the object's ancestors, especially their mother. The mentioning of sexual organs is frequently used in Hokkien profanity.
Swedish profanity can be divided into several categories. A substantial number of curse words in Swedish have religious origins. Euphemistic variants of the religious curses are commonly used as well. References to genitalia or bodily functions are common in the Swedish profanity vocabulary. Notably, no word for sexual intercourse is commonly used in invectives, unlike many other languages. However, calques of English fuck using knull (noun), knulla (verb) do occur; this comes across as more offensive than fuck does in English. In general, knull(a), along with genitalia slang words like kuk ('cock') and fitta ('cunt') are the most offensive single words. By contrast, most of the traditional religious profanities are not considered very offensive today; this is in line with Sweden's long-standing secularism.
Tagalog profanity can refer to a wide range of offensive, blasphemous, and taboo words or expressions in the Tagalog language of the Philippines. Due to Filipino culture, expressions which may sound benign when translated back to English can cause great offense; while some expressions English speakers might take great offense to can sound benign to a Tagalog speaker. Filipino, the national language of the Philippines, is the standard register of Tagalog, so as such the terms Filipino profanity and Filipino swear words are sometimes also employed.
The Polish language, like most others, contains swear words and profanity. Although some words are not always seen as pejorative, others are considered by some to be highly offensive. There is debate amongst scholars regarding the language's swear words that are considered to be the most derogatory.
Sanders, Carol (1993). French today: language in its social context. Cambridge University Press. p.245. ISBN978-0-521-39695-0.
Sinclair Robinson; Donald Smith (1984). Practical Handbook of Quebec and Acadian French: Manuel Pratique Du Français Québécois Et Acadien. Anansi. p.174. ISBN978-0-88784-137-8.
Bauer, Olivier (2011). L'Hostie, une passion québécoise. Montreal: Liber. ISBN978-2-89578-303-9.
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![Graffiti in Montreal, Quebec (loosely translated as "We don't give a fuck [about] the special law") Loi-78-Bill-Montreal-graffiti.jpg](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/83/Loi-78-Bill-Montreal-graffiti.jpg/220px-Loi-78-Bill-Montreal-graffiti.jpg)
