The literal translation of the French verb sacrer is "to consecrate", however in Quebec it is the proper word for the typical Quebecois French way of cursing. The noun form is sacre.
Quebecois French uses a number of the same types of foul language as in standard French, dealing with sex and excrement (such as merde, "shit" - in Quebecois usually pronounced marde). However, those are usually rather mild, and stronger emotions are expressed using sacre.
Here is a list of commonly used words, with their original meanings. Usually, when written, nonstandard spellings are used to represent the forceful pronunciation. The standard spellings are given in parentheses.
- crisse (Christ), "Christ"
- câlisse (calice), "chalice," the cup that is supposed to contain Christ's blood
- osti or sti (hostie), "host," the bread that is supposed to be Christ's body)
- ciboâre (ciboire), "ciborium" or pyx, the receptacle where hosts are stored
- tabarnak (tabernacle), "tabernacle"
- sacrament (sacrement), "sacrament"
- viarge (vierge), "the Virgin Mary"
- baptême, "baptism"
Usually, more than one of these words is used in an expression. The words are simply connected with "de" (or "d'" for "ostie"), without any restrictions. Long strings of invective can be concatenated in this way, and the resulting expression doesn't have to have any concrete meaning; for example, Mon osti de saint-sacrament de crisse de câlisse!
French-speaking visitors to Quebec should note that although these usages may seem comical to those who are used to other kinds of profanity, they are strong curse words and should only be used in a very familiar atmosphere or when one actually means to offend.
Non-religious terms may also be strung together in this way, as in "mon criss de char est fucké" (my damn car is broken). Interestingly, the word "fucké" is somewhat milder than "fuck" is in English.
A slang term with the preposition en means "a lot of:" d'la bouffe en tabarnac (or en crisse, etc.) means "a lot of food."
Most terms in sacre have modified, milder forms:
- tabarnak: tabarnouche, tabarslaque, simonac
- sacrifice or sacrament: sacramouille
- ciboire: cibolle, cibollaque
History
The sacres originated in the early 19th century in a time when the social control exerted by the Catholic clergy was increasingly a source of frustration. One of the oldest sacre is sacrament which can be thought of as a Quebecois "goddamn it". It was in use as far back as the 1830s as far as we know. The word "sacrer" in its current meaning is believed to come from the expression "Ne dit pas ça, c'est sacré." (Don't say that, it is sacred). Eventually, "sacrer" began to refer to the thing francophone Quebecers were not supposed to do.
