Quebec French profanity
Profanities in Quebec French
Quebec French profanities, known as sacres (singular: sacre; from the verb sacrer, "to consecrate"), are words and expressions related to Catholicism and its liturgy that are used as strong profanities in Quebec French (the main variety of Canadian French), Acadian French (spoken in Maritime Provinces, east of Quebec, and parts of Aroostook County, Maine, in the United States), and traditionally French-speaking areas across Canada. Sacres are considered stronger in Québec than the sexual and scatological profanities common to other varieties of French (such as merde, "shit").
History
The sacres originated in the early 19th century, when the social control exerted by the Catholic clergy was increasingly a source of frustration. 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. 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 Catholic Church in Quebec has declined, but the profanity still persists today.
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