Calisse

Stub your toe…miss your bus…let the “a” roll off your tongue, because there is nothing holy about this Chalice. In true Québécois fashion religion takes the hit.

Quebeckers are not ruder than any other population. However, it is interesting to note from a linguistic and cultural standpoint that the vocabulary used to complain and curse in Quebec comes primarily from the Church and Catholic Religion. This of course is definitely not the case in France, where their swear words have almost exclusively sexual connotation, which is also the case within English culture.

The fact that most Quebec swear words are religious in nature is most certainly a reflection of the Catholic Church’s omnipresence (at times essential to the survival of the population, and at other times shameful manipulators of the same population). In Quebec, the Catholic religion has been one of the elements that allowed francophones to maintain their own identity, but it has also at times made them live in fear of punishment and repercussion, with the idea that they were destined for only small and humble success, and should therefore let themselves be governed. ……….and then came the “Quiet Revolution”, social democracy, and the growth of Modern Quebec.

Quebec Curses are very versatile, and can be used interchangeably in most circumstances, for example:

• To exclaim
As in “Christ, you actually bought that!?” or “tabarnac, t’as pas acheté cte patente là ?! ”
You can even create composite swear words by adding “de” between them, as ostie de tabarnac, or calisse de tabarnac.

• To emphasize
As in “ Fuck that hurt” or “Calisse que ça fait mal"

• To degrade something
As in “Here is your fucking money!” or “Tiens prend lé ton esti d’argent”