Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2017/11/09/canadian-censor-board-says-f.html
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I’m saying “fuck” right now.
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Taking the names of Catholic Church accoutrements in vain, however, will still remain forbidden to French language broadcasters by the wise guardians of the CBSC.
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Tabernac!
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yeah, but they say it with a lovely french accent.
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Ouate de phoque?
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So, as a youth, every time I uttered this word and followed it up by “pardon my French”, I wasn’t actually being sarcastinc? mind blown
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To be fair, I’ve people say “Tabernac” on pre-recorded English language CBC radio without issue. Though since the CBSC is a private organization that “self-regulates” private broadcasters, the CBC is outside of their jurisdiction.
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So you can say “fuck”, and then claim you were speaking french?
I’m confused.
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How do native French speakers use the word “fuck,” I want to know? Does it mean something different? Is it a French word?
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I’m not fluent in French, to say the least, but I do live in a bilingual province and can tell you that “fucké” (two syllables) means “fucked up”, but with absolutely none of the forbidden flavour of the English version. Same thing with “con”, which means “cunt” but more generally “idiot” or “schmuck”, again with no stigma attached. Try saying “tabernac” in public, though, and you’d think you’d called the Pope’s mother a whore.
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I’m a Montreal anglophone, but I will try to answer. "Fuck’ is used the same way as in english, but more often in the sense of surprise. (Like- ‘wow’, fuuuck). But also as ‘fuck you’. The difference is that it is a mild swear in french, like ‘damn’ might be in english. Quebec swears are all religious in origin, so body function expletives just don’t hit with the same impact.
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So you see, for ze Francophone, fucking is–how do you say?–a cultural expression of beautiful lovemaking, not ze vulgar act of ze Anglophone pig-dogs.
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C’est la merde de cheval.
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It‘s funny how some swear words make it in to foreign languages with no one blinking. Once i was in a McDonalds in germany with nothing to read but a German McDs magazine aimed at kids, but it quoted someone saying shit and fuck. Of course all english lyrics are uncensored on radio and tv, no caring for watersheds or anything like that, i wouldn‘t say i‘m a prude but as a brit i‘m quite used to the situations where a bit of censorship for the children is mostly expected, so it‘s just a little jarring and funny to see it.
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Excuse my French, but may only English speakers say merde?
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Obligatory:
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Perhaps they are talking about aquatic mammals that often balance balls on their noses (Phoque)
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This is absolutely true. French speakers in Canada say fuck all the time. It really doesn’t have much weight in French. You can hear it fairly regularly on Radio-Canada.
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