--- Laurent Olszer <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> .
> (But in true Irish fashion, the only
> Irish-language phrase I ever learned
> from my grandfather means "Kiss my ass!")
> >
> > --Bob
> >
> Funny, that's also the only phrase my father taught
> me in Polish!
>
Of course, the first thing anyone learning another
language wants to know is the swear words! Laurent,
you're in France, aren't you? It's kind of funny how
the "swear words" in Quebec French all relate to
church things - things like "Tabarnac'!" (Tabernacle);
"Sacrament!" (same word in English) "Hostie!" (which
means "host" as in Holy communion wafers) and
"Bapteme!" which means Baptism. Hardly anything an
Anglophone would think of as "bad" language - in
English, our swear words seem to be mostly the
Anglo-Saxon (a conquered race, who therefore spoke an
"inferior" language) words for body parts or bodily
functions. Anyway, it seems to me that Francais de
France French swearing is more like the English
swearing, i.e., body parts or functions - maybe the
French weren't as repressed by religion as the
Quebecois were.
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