Posted on 02/21/2013 2:28:01 PM PST by null and void
The word “pasta” is a little too Italian for Quebec’s language cops.
They’d prefer something more in the language of Moliere than Michaelangelo when it comes to menus, even in Italian restaurants.
“Pasta” wasn’t the only word that left a sour taste when they recently chewed over the menu at Buonanotte, a trendy Italian restaurant in Montreal. There were several other words that didn’t have enough of a French flavour for the Office Quebecois de la language francaise.
(Excerpt) Read more at theglobeandmail.com ...
I can remember back in the day when they had a serious issue with “Howard Johnson’s” too.
Tyranny takes many forms as does political correctness and common sense often is entirely displaced.
As someone who, while walking down a Montreal street, was told to quit speaking English, I can reliably tell you it’s a serious subject in Quebec.
“La cluck cluck” La cluck cluck”
Having been to Montreal and Quebec a few times....when they hear my “French”...the Frogs will immediately revert back to English..lol.
I haven’t had too many problems in MONT or QUE...and I have been in the non-tourist areas too. I missed last years riots by a few minutes
Everything gets resolved to ensure the language law is complied with. Quebec is French only but is required by Canadian federal law to guarantee basic human rights for anglophones and these have not changed in practice.
Its much ado about nothing.
The time I was told to quit speaking English was during a demonstration in front of some government building by a few people from the small English-speaking population of Montreal. While I was talking to one of the Anglophones to find out what the demonstration was about, some hairy guy ran up to us from across the street and shouted something at us in French. I asked the guy I was talking to what the mangy-looking guy was screaming. He told me the guy was telling (shouting actually) us to quit speaking English.
Professor Farnsworth: And This is My Universal Translator. Unfortunately, it only translates into an incomprehensible dead language.
Cubert Farnsworth: Hello
Universal Translator: Bon Jour
Professor Farnsworth: Crazy gibberish!
One of the great things about Italian restaurants is that you can always read the menu! Whether in Beijing or Brazil.
Canada Ping!
Beijing, Brazil, Bordeaux, Benghazi, but not Baie-Comeau...
Quebec francophones can have Scottish, Irish and English surnames. All those immigrants assimilated into the francophone majority. For 80% of the population, French is the first language though in real life its much higher.
Quebec in colonial times was Canada East and the British effort after the 1837 rebellions to suppress the French in Canada ended in failure, especially after the united Canadian colonies gained responsible government in 1848.
In the British North America Act of 1867, Canada East and Canada West were redivided into the separate present-day provinces of Quebec and Ontario.
You aren’t taking your lessons from CBS are you? Fake but accurate?
Try Upper Canada and Lower Canada.
A buddy of mine is from Ireland, used to be a sailor on a cargo ship. A bunch of them walked into a bar in Montreal, for a long time, the bartender ignored them. As he tells it, he stood on the bar stool and screamed “We’re Irish, damn it, not English”. Not only were they served right away, but it was on the house.
Oui... but how’s their poutine?
Good question. I've never had poutine, but it's offered as one of the side dishes at PFQ, aka KFC, in Quebec.
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