Acadian-French Glossary

In the interest of promoting Acadian French (“le brayon”) and Québécois French (“le joual”), I will try to use some traditional North American French words instead of some Parisian-French words that were imposed by “l’Académie française” (the French Academy) when I write French. These are words that one can hear every day in Grand Isle, Maine, United States. (Grand Isle has around 518 people and around 76 percent speak French.) Some of the words are as follows. Paris-French/English is on the left of the “=”. Acadian-French or Québécois-French is on the right of the “=”.

A = the letter “a” often sounds like someone from Massachusetts saying the letter “a,” so it often sounds like “â.” That changes the sound of many Valley-French and Canadian-French words, making them sound a bit different than in Paris. For example, “Gazette” often sounds like “Gâzette.”

Les abeilles (bees in English) = les bourdons.

Aboyé (bark like a dog) = jappé.

A couple of years (English) = Sometimes “une coup’e d’années.”

Aider (to help) = In the St. John Valley it sounds more like the way the English pronounce the word “aid.”

A little bit of time = un escousse.

Aînés (the elderly) = “les plus vieux” or “Y est avançé dans l’age.”

Agaçant (annoying) = “tannant,” for example, “Il est agaçant” is often “Y est tannant” or “Y est tannaint” or “Y est un chrisse de tannant.”

L’Air (to look like, to appear like) = “Il a l’air bien” in Paris-French is sometimes “Y garde ben” or “Y regarde ben” in Valley-French.

Alors (“so” or it is often used as a sort of filler-word) = “Ça fait que…” or “Fait que…” Someone will sometimes start a phrase by saying “Ça fait que…” and then it will be followed by a complete sentence with a subject, verb and object.

Les anciens combatants (veterans) = les veterans.

Appartient (to belong) = sometimes “appartchén.”

Un anglais (an Anglophone) = une tête carrée.

Un anglophone (an English-speaking person) = “un anglais” or une “tête carrée.” It is politically correct to use the word “un anglophone” to describe an English-speaking person in Canada, Belgium, France, etc. However, I have never heard the word “un anglophone” used in the American St. John Valley.

Annoying in English = “Y est pas durab’e” or “Y est pas endurab’e.”

Un appareil photo = “un camera.”

The argument starts (English) = Sometimes in the Valley, “La chicane est prit.”

Arrièré (someone who is backwards) = sometimes “un raculant” or “un raculaint” (perhaps a Québécois pronunciation that invaded the Valley?).

Arrière-grand-père (great-grandfather) = grand-grandpère.

Arpente la terre (“survey the land” in English) = sometimes “plaqué les lignes” in the Valley.

Appartient (to belong) = sometimes “appartchèns.”

En arrière (in back) = sometimes it sounds like “en érriere.

Asseoir (to sit) = assire.

Aussi (also) = itou.

Aucune (“nothing” in Paris) = In the Valley, “aucune” means “any.” If you talk about “aucune maison,” it refers to “any house.” I have also heard the more Acadian-sounding “autchune” in Grand Isle.

Un avare (a cheapskate) = “un gratteux” or “un Séraphin” or un “grippe-sous.”

Avoir (to have) = aouère.

Avertir (to warn) = sometimes “âvartir” in the Valley.

Appellé par téléphone (to call by phone) = callé.

Une applicatrice de panneaux muraux secs (a sheetrocker) = sometimes “un sheetrockeur” or “un sheetrockeux.”

Balai (a broom) = sometimes “une ballette” (spelled phonetically).

Baril = sometimes “core.” I read the word “core” in a column by Don Levesque in the April 7, 2010 edition of the “St. John Valley Times.”

Un bavard (a gossiper) = “un baveux” and it might also be close in meaning to “une jeule sale,” “une yeule sale,” “une guele sale” a “mal en guelé” or “un mépriseux.”

Beaucoup (a lot) = sometimes “en masse” is used instead of “beaucoup.” For example, if something has a lot of sugar, someone in France might say, “Il y a beaucoup de sucre.” In the Valley, it might sound more like, “C’est sucré en masse.”

Une belle femme (a beautiful woman) = sometimes “Elle est ben amanché.”

Bien (good) = ben.

Boire (to drink) = bouère.

Boit (he drinks) = “boé” so “Y boé pas.”

Boite (as in “to limp” in English) = bouète so one can say “Y bouète.”

Bonsoir (good night) = bonsouère.

Bother = “bodré” so one can say, “Bode moé pas.”

Bougé (to move) = mouvé.

To breed (English) = sometimes you hear, “C’est McCains qui breedait ça.” It’s McCains that breeds them.

Les bretelles (suspenders to hold up pants) = “les bricoles” in the Valley. (I have run the word “les bretelles” by a few Valley residents, and so far no one claims to use the word.)

Brisé (to break or broken) = busté.

La bronchite (bronchitis) = les bronches (according to coffee drinkers at a local popular eatery.)

Une brouette (a wheel barrel) = une barouette.

Le bruit (noise) = sometimes “le train.”

Bullshitter (English) = Sometimes a person who is a real good talker, like a good salesman, is called “un parleur” or “un parleux.”

Ça tombe bien (That happens at a good time) = sometimes “Ç’addone ben.” Also, sometimes, “Ça tombait ben.”

Un camion (a truck) = un truck.

Un camion à ordures (a garbage truck) = “un truck à garbage.”

Un camioneur (a truck driver) = un truckeur or un truckeux.

Une camionette (a pickup truck) = un pickup.

Les canadiens (Canadians) = les canayens.

Une carpe (a bottom feeder or a “sucker” fish) = une cappe.

Une carte (a map) = “une mappe” so one can look at “une mappe d’Ottawa.”

Ce (this) = sometimes “à” in the Valley, so people will often talk about “tonight” as “à souère” instead of “ce soir.” I recently heard, “Y annonce la neige à souère” or “They are announcing snow for tonight.”

Un célibataire (a bachelor) = un vieux garçon.

Une célibataire (a female bachelor) = une vielle fille.

Le centre (the middle of something or the center of something) = sometimes “le mitan.”

Un champ d’avoine (a field of oats) = In the Valley, it sounds more like “un champ des ouènne.” (Spelled phonetically, with the “ouènne” sounding like the English word “when.” The “s” in “des” in this context sounds silent.

Changer de vitesse (shift gears) = “shifté” or “changé les gears.”

Une chaudière (a pail) = sometimes in the Valley “une challière.”

Chercher (to search) = sometimes “charcher.”

Un che val or a horse = un joual (myspace will not let me make “horse” in Paris-French into a single word, perhaps an anti-Trojan bug?). “Joual” can sometimes be a verb. For example, I heard on July 26, 2010, “Y a joualait les deux pour une escousse.” (He had affairs with two women at the same time for awhile.)

Les chauves-souris (a bat, the mammal that flies) = les souris-chauves.

Un charpentier (a carpenter) = sometimes “un ouvrier.”

Les cheveux (hair) = sometimes “les jweux.” (The “w” in this context sounds like the English “w,” spelled phonetically of course.)

Le chien (a dog) = sometimes un tchien.

Chez moi (my home) = sometimes “chez nous.”

Chicken feet (English) = sometimes “les pattes de poule.”

Choix (choice) = choé.

Un cimitière (cemetery) = sometimes “un cimitchère.” I first came across this word in the novel “La Sagouine,” but I later heard it in Grand Isle. A few centuries ago in France, according to linguists, many “t” sounds were actually pronounced like a “tch.”

Le clitoris = “le p’tit bonhomme dans le bateau.” (“The little man in the boat.”) someone once told me, “Ça sent pas bon. C’est bon pareil.” (“It does not smell good. It’s good just the same.”)

Un comique (a joker) = “un gausseux” or “un snoreau.”

Complainer (English) = sometimes “un chialeux.” The verb would be “chialer.”

Les concessions = In Grand Isle they refer to some back settlements away from Route 1. The word may come from the time that Maine/Québec/New Brunswick was giving land away to colonists, in exchange for them clearing and cultivating a certain amount of land per year, plus building a house of a certain minimum size. Instead of saying someone lives in Timbuktu, you might say that he lives “dans les concessions.”

Conduire (to drive) = “drivé” or “chauffé.”

Un coeur (heart) = sometimes “un tchoeur.”

Le courriel (e-mail) = le e-mail.

Un coureur de femmes (a skirt chaser) = sometimes “un pineux.”

Un cousin germain (a first cousin) = sometimes “un cousin prop’e.”

Crayfish (English) = There is a species of crayfish that is called a “pine-agoune.” (Spelled phonetically.)

Le crépuscule (light conditions during dusk) = Sometimes in the Valley, “la brunante.” My mother, who was born in Normandy, France, in 1935, said the elders sometimes said “la brune” for light conditions around dusk.

La Croche des dindes (The curve of the turkeys) = It is a curve in the road in the Keegan neighborhood of Van Buren. It is near some railroad tracks on Route 1, south of a gravel pit where the Border Patrol likes to hide and think we don’t see them. No one knows for sure where the name came from. One theory is that some Danish immigrants once lived there. Another theory is that someone once ran over a turkey with a horse-drawn carriage.

Crois (believe) = crais or cré.

Croire (to believe) = craire.

Croyez (to believe) = sometimes “crayez.”

Le crottin (manure for fertilizer) = le fumier.

Une cuillière (spoon) = sometimes “tchuilliere.”

Les cuisses (thighs) = sometimes “les tchuisses.”

Un cul (ass, part of the anatomy) = sometimes “un tchou.” I once heard a saying, “Parle anglais. Parle français. Parle du nez. Parle du tchou!” (“Speak English. Speak French. Talk about noses. Talk about asses.”)

Les culottes (pants) = pants in the Valley, undewear in Paris, or “les tchulottes” in the Valley.

Culvert (an English technical term the Public Works Department uses a lot for a sort of giant pipe that can be used as a small bridge) = une calvette.

Les couilles (testicles) = “les gosses” or “les gâloes” (spelled phonetically.)

Un CV (a resume) = un résumé.

Un défilé (parade) = sometimes “une parade.”

To sober up = sometimes “dégrisé.”

Déçu (disappointed) = sometimes “disappointé” so one can say “Les américains sont disappointé avec les hockey games.”

Dehors (outside) = often sounds like “déyors” in the Valley.

Démarré (to start) = starté.

Déménagé (to move by changing addresses) = mouvé.

Déneigé (to plow snow) = scraypé.

Dérangé (to bother) = bodré.

Dernier (last) = Sometimes in the Valley, “darnier.”

The desire is there, but not the power. (English) = In the Valley somtimes, “Le voulouère est là, mais pas le pououère.”

Deux (two) = sometimes “deusse” (with the “s” having a “z” sound) or “deuze.” You can sometimes see the number “deux” in feminine form in French poetry and literature from around 1400.

Le diable (the devil) = le djob’e. It sounds almost like an Anglais saying the word “job,” like a place where you work. For example, someone once told me after I swore, “Tu vas aller au djob’e.” (“You’re gonna go to the devil” or “You’re gonna go to hell.”)

Difficile (difficult) = sometimes “malaisé.” For example, one could say “C’est malaisé de faire ta vie quand c’est que t’as pas même un pays à toi.” (It is difficult to make a life, when you don’t even have your own country.)

Dire (where someone is speaking bad of someone is) = sometimes “bavarser.”

Dois (must, or to owe) = doé, my spelling; or “doué” according to the spelling of some others.

Un dollar (a dollar) = une piastre or une piasse.

Droite (straight to somewhere or “right”) = “drette” and I have sometimes heard “drette là.”

Du tout (at all) (as in “Je n’aime pas ça du tout”) = pantoute.

Écouter (to hear) = ouïr is the Paris-French verb stem (sometimes pronounced “way” in the Valley, such as “Je oué” or “On peut ouère” or sometimes spelled “On peut wouère).

Écoeurerant (to be annoying or disgusting) = sometimes “étchoeurant.”

Écouté la télévision (listen to the TV) = “watché la télévision” or “regardé la télévision.”

Un écureuil (squirrel in English) = un suisse.

Elle (her or she) = sometimes in the Valley, “Alle.”

Embaucher (to hire) = “engager.” I have never heard the word “embaucher” in the American St. John Valley. To say “He hired me,” it would be “Y m’a engagé.”

Enceinte (pregnant) = “Elle est enceinte” in Paris-French is often “Elle est en famille” in the Valley.

Un enfant chien (a son of a bitch) = sometimes “un enfant tchien” or “‘fant tchien.”

Un enfant de choeur (a choir boy) = sometimes “un p’tit clair.” (The “p’tit” sounds like “Tee” in English.)

Enfreint la loi (break the law) = sometimes “Y a cassé la loi.”

Une enseigne (a sign) = In the Valley sometimes just the English word “un sign.”

Un épais (thick-headed or stupid) = un innocent.

L’épicier du coin or “chez l’épicier du coin” (convenience store) = un dépanneur.

Essayer (to try) = asseyer or âsseyer.

Et (and) = often “pis.”

L’état (the state) = most of the time in the Valley, “la state.” For example, to say someone is on welfare, you can say, “Y est su’ la state.”

Être (to be) = sometimes sounds like “êt’e.” (In the Valley, a word that ends with an “re” or an “le” often has the “r” or the “le” dropped off. When people write phonetically they usually spell it “être” anyway, probably to avoid confusion. You even see it spelled “être” on Radio-Canada TV when you have the Closed Captioning for the Hearing Impaired on and a speaker of “le Joual” is talking, even when most French-Canadians do not seem pronounce the “r.”

Envoie (to send somewhere or to be told to go somewhere) = Enoué or enwaye (spelled phonetically).

Est-ce qu’il…? (Is he or is it?) = sometimes in Valley-French, “Est-y.” I do not think I have ever heard, “Est-ce qu’il” at the start of a question in the Valley.

Faire l’amour (to fuck) = sometimes “piner” or “fourrer.”

Un farfadet (leprechaun) = “un lutin” in the Valley. People in the Valley have told me that their grandparents actually believed that “les lutins” existed. One person told me that a now-deceased elderly lady asked him to go in her garage to chase away “les lutins.” He went in there, came out, and he told her that he chased them all away. Another eldery person told me about his late father-in-law. The father-in-law once went into a barn and claimed that he saw “les lutins” doing something to the mane of his horse.

Fatiguer (tired) = sometimes “brulé nette.” “Fatiguer” is also sometimes pronounced more like “fâtiké,” according to one person I spoke to from Van Buren. I have also heard the “t” pronounced like a “tsi,” like in a “tsi si fly,” from a Madawaska, Maine, person.

Les femmes (women) = sometimes “les créatures.”

Une fenêtre (window) = un châssis.

Le fermier (farmer) = un habitant.

Fermer (verb “to close”) = sometimes “farmé.”

Fermer la porte (close the door) = sometimes “Clancher la porte.”

Les fèves (beans) = les binnes.

Fiddleheads (English) = sometimes “les fougères” in the Valley. The online Canadian Encyclopedia also called them «tête de violon.» They grow near the St. John River in the St. John Valley. People who collect them are often questioned by cops or Border Patrol agents. The Canadian Encylopedia says of them, “the young curled leaf of any FERN; (2) the ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris of the Aspidaceae family); and (3) the young curled leaf of the ostrich fern used as a vegetable (often called fiddlehead greens). The word fiddlehead was adopted because the young curled leaves look like the scrolls of fiddles. Worldwide, the fiddleheads of only a few fern species are eaten (including those of the carcinogenic bracken fern), but the ostrich fern is the most important edible fern, and is the only native Canadian plant that has achieved commercial success as a VEGETABLE.”

Figuré (to think about or to figure) (in Québec) = “deviné” so if one talks about chickens one can say, “J’ai figuré que la poule va prendre deux jours de repos par deux semaines.”

Un fils (a son) = un garçon. I do not think I have ever heard the term “un fils” for “a son” in the Valley, at least as of April 2010.

Fired (You’re fired in English) = “T’es clairé.”

Fois (times) = sometimes “foé” or “fwèh.”

First marriage (English) = sometimes called “un premier litte.” (Literally, a “first bed.”) A second marriage would be “deuxième litte” and so on. In the Valley, “un lit” sounds like “un litte.”

Le foie (liver) = sometimes “la forçure” in the Valley. I stole the spelling from Acadian dictionary by Pascal Poirier at http://www2.umoncton.ca/cfdocs/cea/livres/glossaire_index/glossaire.cfm?retour=G0503&lettre=A

Foolishness (in English) = sometimes “le niaisage” or “les niaiseries,” for example a woman once told me, “Arrête de niaiser!”

Une fondation (a foundation for a building) = sometimes in Valley-French, “le solage.”

Fondre (to melt) = Sometimes “décoller.” If a road is slippery, you might hear “C’est collant.” (In Paris, “décollant” usually refers to a plane taking off, but in the Valley it refers to melting. I also once heard someone say of the heat, “Ça va manger la neige.” (“That will eat the snow.”)

Une fourgonette (a van) = un van.

Les framboises (raspberries) = sometimes “les frambouèses” in the Valley.

Un francophone (a French-speaking person) = usually “un français” in the Valley. It is politically correct to call a French-speaker “un francophone” in Canada, Belgium, etc. However, I have never heard the term “francophone” used by customers of convenience stores in the American St. John Valley.

Un frelon (wasp) = un djape (spelled phonetically).

Froid (cold) = frette.

Fumé (smoke) = like the physical substance of smoke is “la boucane” or one can have “un poisson boucané.”

Glissant (slippery) = coulant so one can say of the roads, “C’est coulant.”

“Go straight there” (English) = sometimes “On va drette-là.”

“Go to the devil” (English) = sometimes “Va chier mon tabarnak.”

Goatee (English) = sometimes “une gaskette à plotte.” (“A gasket for a pussy.”)

Le Gouvernement (the government) = sometimes “le gouvarnement.” I first came across this pronunciation in the book “La Sagouine.” However, I heard it used in Grand Isle on June 27, 2010.

Grand Isle = sometimes “Grant Isle” (in Acadian-French many words that end with a “d” sound like they end with a “t”).

Un grognard (a grouch or complainer) = un marabout or un grippette.

Gros homme (big man) = sometimes “grot homme” or “un gros jack.”

Gros or grosse or obese (big or big man or fat) = sometimes “fatté” so one can say “Y est fatté.”

Ground hog (English) = sometimes “un siffleux.”

Une guele (mouth) = often is “une yeule” or “une djeule.” I once heard the expression, “Y va manger un coup de poing su’ la guele.” (“He’s going to get punched in the mouth.”)

Habitudes (habits) = sometimes “les vielles manières de nos grand-pères.”

Les haricots verts (green beans) = In the Valley, sometimes “les cosses de fèves.”

Le haut de l’arbre (top of the tree) = “la toppe de l’arb’e.”

Handicappé (handicapped or disabled) = sometimes “débile” in Québec or “Y était disabled” in the Valley.

He is high [on a substance] (English) = sometimes “Y est flambé.”

He is learning or he is catching up (English) = sometimes “Y prend du picque.” (Spelled phonetically.)

He treated him like a pig (English) = “Y l’a traité comme un cochon.”

He works hard (English) = Sometimes “Y buche” or “Y bosse.”

Une histoire (a story or history) = une histouère.

I added 15 miles [on an odometer] (English) = “J’ai ramassé 15 milles.”

Ici (here) = icitte.

If you stir up shit, it will stink (English) = “Si tu brâsse la marde, ça va poé.” I also heard a variant, “Y a pété la brue.”

Il a quel âge (How old is he?) = In the Valley sometimes, “Comment vieux que c’est [fill in the blank]?”

Immature (immature) = sometimes “C’est immature” is “C’est fantasse” in the Valley (for example, if you pull out someone’s chair behind them before they sit, witnesses might say “C’est fantasse”).

Il or Ils (he or they) is often just “Y” (you know if you are talking about one object singular or many objects plural by the verb that follows. Il a = sometimes “Y’a” or “Y a.” Il est = sometimes “Y est” or “Y’est” so one could say “Y’est pas là” instead of “Il n’est pas là.” In May 2010 in Grand Isle I might have discovered that “Ils” in the Valley might be “Y’s,” if followed by a verb beginning with a vowel. For example, I heard, “Y’s ont coupé le contrat à motché.” (They cut the contract in half.) Sometimes the “Y” for “he” or a masculine “they” is silent. For example, “Y a rien qui’y peuvent faire.” (“There is nothing they can do.”) The “y” in “qui’y” is not pronounced, but it is there.

Il a joué (“He gambled,” when talking about an adult) = sometimes “Y a gamblé.”

Il a attaché ses lacets. (“He tied his shoe laces.”) = sometimes “Y a amarré ses chausseures.”

Il a fait de la contrebande. (“He smuggled.”) = sometimes “Y a smugglé.” (“He smuggled.”)

Il fait quelque chose pour moi (he does something for me) = sometimes “Y fait de quoi pour moé.”

Il y a beaucoup (There is a lot) = sometimes in the Valley, “Y en a en masse.”

Il faut que j’aille (I must go) = sometimes “Y faut j’aille.”

Un immeuble (a building) = un bâtisse.

Intelligent (intelligent) = sometimes “smatte.” Unless I misunderstood, “smatte” can also sometimes mean someone who is handsome or beautiful or well-kept or well-mannered. For example, “Y est ben smatte.”

Inventif (to be inventive) = sometimes “Il est inventif” is “Y est patenteux” in Valley-French.

Inventer (to invent) = sometimes “patenter.”

It is hot and muggy out (English) = Sometimes in the Valley, ” ‘Es temps est pesant.” (Literally, “The weather is heavy.”) The person I spoke to pronounced “heavy,” “pesant” more like “pesaint.”

It sucks (English slang expression for “it stinks” or “it’s boring) = sometimes “C’est platte.” I only heard this in Québec, until June 13, 2010. Then I heard someone use the word “platte” it in the St. John Valley. I then found out that the person watches a lot of Radio-Canada TV.

It drags on and on (English) = sometimes in the Valley, “Çà traîne” or “Ça dragge” (sounds like “drag” in English) or “Ça fland’e” and even “Ça niaise.”

Ivre (drunk) = “saoul.” For example, “Y est saoul comme un cochon tout les temps.” (“He is drunk like a pig all the time.) Or, “plotté” (spelled phonetically and according to witnesses found in Normandy in the 1930s and 1940s and in Biddeford, Maine recently) or “Y est flambé” or “Y est pâté (spelled phonetically) or “Y est bourré comme un cochon.”

Un ivrogne (a drunk) = un saoûlon. You can also say of a drunk, “Y boé pas mal.” (Literally, “He does not drink badly.”)

J’ai jamais aimé ça (I have never liked that) = sometimes “J’ai jamais cairé pour ça.”

J’écoute (I hear) = Je ouï (pronounced “Je way” or “Je oué” in the Valley).

Je suis (I am) = sometimes “Chu.”

Jeté (to throw) = “garroché” so “Y a garroché sa bouteille.”

Je ne sais pas (I do not know) = “Ché pas” or “J’ché pas” or “Je tché pas” or “Tché pas.”

Je vais (I go) = Je vas.

Le Journal (newspaper) = often “La Gâzette” in the Valley. A Van Buren native once handed me a paper and called it a “papier.”

Juillet (July) = “juillette.”

Junk (English) = sometimes “tout de grémant” (spelled phonetically) or “chrisse de gramant” (spelled phonetically) or “un esti gramant.”

Juste (as in “only”) = yainque.

Laid (ugly) = laite.

Laisse echapper or laisse tomber (to drop) = sometimes “larguer.” It is an old Maritime term, and you can sometimes find it in an English-French dictionary if you look up “drop” and scroll down a bit in the translation. I found a website with the following sentence, “Il a largué le câble de remorquage.” (“He dropped the towing cable.”) You can also find it in many Acadian-French glossaries.

Une lampe (a light or lantern) = un fanal.

“Le” does not usually appear at the end of words, so “fiable” will often sound like “fiabe.”

Leur or leurs (their) = often pronounced like “leu.”

Les = the plural of “the” is often ” ‘es ” and sounds a lot like “way” in English in front of a consonant or “ways” in front of a vowel; so one might hear, phonetically, “tous ways ans.” In written French from around 1500 one can often read “es” instead of “les.”

Licencier (lay off) = layé off.

Un lit (a bed) = pronounced as “un litte.”

Limogé (to fire someone from a job) = “clairé” or “chrissé dehors.” I have also heard, “Y ont l’aurait canné.” (“They would have fired him.”) Or, “C’est le seul gars qui m’a clairé.” (“He is the only man who ever fired me.”)

Lundi (Monday) = lèndi.

Lui aussi (him also) = lui itou (sounds like “luitoo”).

Lynx (English and Paris-French) = sometimes in the Valley, a “proux.” (Spelled phonetically.)

Une machine or un machin (a thing) = une patente.

Magasiné (to shop) = shoppé (Elle aime magasiner = Elle aime shopper).

Maintenant (now) = astheure.

To make oneself ready, to prepare for something, to equipe oneself with something = “Y se greye” like “Y se greye avec une bouteille.” In a book about the history of the town of Châteaugiron in France, I found the verb spelled as “gréer.”

Malin = mean in Valley-French but clever in Paris; in the Valley one can say, “Y est un holy chrisse de malin.”

Une marchette (a walker for the elderly in Québec) = “un walker” in the Valley.

Une marmotte (sometimes woodchuck in English) = un équirreux” (spelled phonetically).

Une marmotte (sometimes also translated as a “groundhog”) = sometimes “un siffleux” (can “la marmotte” be both a ground hog and a wood chuck?).

Masturber = “creusser” so someone can say, “Tu creusses trop” or call someone “un creusseux de poule” or “un creusseux de dinde;” I once also heard “Y pulle sa poche” or “Y haule la peau.”

Méchant = sometimes “malin” or “malfaisant.” (“Malin” often means “clever” in Paris, but it means “mean” in the Valley.) For example, “Y est malfaisant” or “Y est malin.”

Le médecin (the doctor) = often in the Valley called “le docteur.” I do not think I have ever heard the term “le médecin” in the American St. John Valley, at least as of July 2010.

Merci (thank you) = sometimes “marci.”

La merde (shit) = “la marde” or “la crotte.” For example, I once heard an expression, “C’est lui qui commence la marde.” (He’s the one who starts the shit.”

Mis à pied or licencier (to lay off) = layé off.

Un mendiant (a beggar) = sometimes “un tchêteu'” in the Valley (I learned this from the Aug. 12, 2009 edition of the “St. John Valley Times.”

Monticello in Maine (a town in Maine north of Houlton) = “Monde est slow” (people are slow) or “Mon p’tit salaud” (my little bastard).

Moi (me) = moé.

Moi aussi (me too) = Moi itou (pronounced moi-too) or moé itou (pronounced moé-too) or in Québec sometimes “moé’si (spelled phonetically).”

Moitié (half of) = In the Valley, sometimes “motché” or sometimes “meutché” or sometimes “moqé.” (It sounds like the Paris-French verb to tease.) Someone once joked about a woman who called up for a pizza and wanted “troises moqés.” (Three-halves.) (In the Valley, trois, for “three,” is sometimes “troise.”

Monter (in this context to climb into a mode of transportation) = Sometimes “embarquer.” When talking about a mode of transportation like a car or an ATV or a Skidoo, I have never heard, “J’ai monté dans la voiture” in the American St. John Valley. I think I have heard, “J’ai embarqué dans le char.” It might be an old naval term that was carried over from prior to 1755, when many Acadians made their living by fishing on boats.

Une motoneige (snowmobile) = un ski-doo.

Les morceaux (in pieces) = sometimes “les miettes.” For example, I recently head, “Y est toutes en miettes les chemins.” (“The roads are all in pieces.”)

Les moustiques (mosquitoes) = les maringouins.

Moyens (to afford something) = In standard-French one might say, “Il a pas les moyens pour s’acheter une voiture.” (He does not have the means to buy a car.” In the Valley, one might say, “On peut pas afforder ça.” (One can’t afford that.)

“Ne” usually does not appear in front of verbs in spoken Valley French.

Nettoyer (to clean) = cleané.

Noir (black) = nouère.

Une nuit (night) = une nuitte.

Obèse (overweight) = I have never heard someone say, “Y est obèse” in the Valley. I have heard the term “fatté.” I once saw someone see an obese woman walk by, and he said: “Un morceaux.” (“A piece.”)

Ostiner (Valley-French) = To be argumentative, stubborn. Such a person can be an “ostineux.” I have also seen the word in a Cajun dictionary. It might be a variant of the Paris-French verb “obstiner.”

Ou est-ce que (where is or where are) = sometimes “yousque.”

Une oie (a goose) = un outarde.

Un ordinateur (computer) = un computer.

Oublier (to forget) = sometimes “oblier.”

Ouch (English) = “Ayoye” in the Valley.

Un ours (bear) = un our.

Ouvert (open or to open) = sometimes “ouvart.”

Parent (a relative) = in the Valley and in France “parent” does not necessarily mean “parents” like “mother” and father” in English. It can mean a relative in a generic sense.

Pauvre (poor) = “pauv’e” or “Y est cassé comme un clou.”

Les pantalons (pants) = “les culottes” or “les tchulottes” in the Valley.

Un parasseux (lazy person) = un lâche. Such as in, “Y est lache comme un âne.” (“He is lazy as an ass.”)

Un pari (a bet) = sometimes “une gage” or “gager.” For example, I heard someone once say, “Tu m’as gagé dix piasses” (You bet me $10.) A person who bets money might be a “gageur.”

Party crasher = un pique-assiettes.

Le patron (boss) = le boss.

La pelouse (grass that grows on a lawn) = “l’harbe” so “On tonde la pelouse” in France is “On coupe l’harbe” in the Valley.

Pelletier (the name of one of the old families in the St. John Valley) = sometimes called as a nickname “Castor” (beaver) or “Peltché” (you should know the person before calling someone “Mr. Castor.”

(pills) = In the Valley, sometimes “les beulousses.”

Penche (as in lean or go towards) = sometimes “Il penche vers toi” in Paris-French is “Y largue vers toé” in Québécois-French.

Le pénis (penis) = “un pinotte” or “une pissette” in the St. John Valley or “une bizoune” or “une quéquette” in Québec.

Perdu (lost) = sometimes “pardu.”

Un permis (a license) = sometimes in the Valley “un parmis.”

Perdre (to lose) = sometimes “pard’e.”

Person who asks a lot of questions (English) = sometimes “un questionneuse.” I once heard the saying, “Tu te fais fourrer, si tu question trop.” (You will screw yourself if you ask too many questions.”

Petit (little or small) = “p’tit” (sounds like “tee” in English. Petite = “p’tite” sounds like “teet” in English.

Un pissenlit (dandelion) = un pissenlitte.

Une petite amie (a girlfriend) = “une blonde” or “une petiote.”

Les pichous (“Valley-French” for home-knitted slippers) = Sometimes you see home-knitted slippers for sale in the St. John Valley. In May 2010 I saw a homemade sign that said “Pichous” on Route 1 in Van Buren, not too far away from the Cyr Plantation border. My late grandmother on my father’s side, who was born in New Hampshire of Québécois parents around 1898 or 1899 or 1900, made them.

Les pillules (pills) = sometimes in the Valley, “les belouses” or “les boulouses.”

Pitié (to have pity for, or it’s a pity) = sometimes “pitché.”

Planifié (to plan) = sometimes you hear “planné” like “J’ai planné pour demain.” (“I planned for tomorrow.”)

Plaindre (to complain) = sometimes “chialer” or “tchialer.” A complainer is therefore un “chialeux” or a “tchialeux.” (The “tch” sound is probably a strong Acadian influence, while the “ch” sound is probably a strong Québécois influence.) It might be close in meaning to “bavarser.” To say someone complained about something (fill in the blank for the rest), you can say “Y a bavarsé…”

Un plâtrièr (a plasterer) = sometimes “un drywalleur” or “un drywalleux” or “un sheetrockeur” or “un sheetrockeux.”

Plein (full) = “Y est plein “is sometimes “Y est pâté.”

Pleut (to rain) = Il pleut usually is “Y mouille” (sounds like “moy” in English.)

Pleuré (to cry) = braillé (sounds a bit like “broy-yé” in English.)

Plus (more) = often “pus.”

“Le plus tôt possible” = often in Québéc “au plus sâcrant” so I once read someone say, “Je veux habiter à Montréal au plus sacrant.”

Les pneus (tires) = les tires.

Pogné (to catch, get hold of, trap, etc.) = sometimes “poigné.”

Les policiers (cops) = “les boeufs” in Québec.

Les pommes de terre (potatoes) = les patates.

Le porche (porch) = le perron.

Plus (more) = pus.

Pour combien de temps… (for how long…) = In the Valley sometimes “Comment de temps…?”

Prénom (first name) = sometimes “premier nom.”

Presque (almost) = often “quisement.”

Puis (and then) = is often “pis” or sometimes spelled “pi.”

Un putain (a whore) = “une gidoune” or “une bidoune” or sometimes “une femme slutte.”

Les pneus (tires) = les tires.

Quand (when) = quant.

Quatre (four) = sounds like “cat” in the Valley, “quat’e.”

Quelqu’un (someone) = sometimes “tchèqu’un” or “quequ’un.

Qu’est-ce que (where is) = sometimes “cosse” in the Valley or “qu’esse” or “qu’essé” in Québecois-French.

Les quilles (bowling) = “Il a joué aux quilles” in the Valley is often “Y a bowlé.”

“Re” does not usually appear at the end of words in spoken Valley French, so “montre,” for example, will often sound like “mont’e” and “autre” will sound like “aut’e.”

Reclimb (English) = sometimes “ramonté” or I might have also heard “râmonté.”

Reculer (to back up) = sometimes “raculer.”

Reconstruire (rebuild) = “Ils ont reconstruis la ville” in the Valley often is “Y’s ont rebuildé la ville.”

Regarde (to look at) = sometimes “garde” like “J’ai gardé la télévision.”

Les reines (kidneys) = In the Valley, sometimes “les royons.” (Spelled phonetically.)

Retraite (retire or retirement) = “Il a fait la retraite” in Paris is “Y est rétiré” in the Valley (it almost sounds like “retire” in English, but with an accent aigu on the last “é.”

Rentrer (to return) = sometimes “retourné” in the Valley.

Renvoyé (to fire someone from a job) = “clairé” or “chrissé dehors.”

Respirer (to breathe) = I have heard the word used “souffler” used for “to breathe” in the Valley, but in Paris-French “souffler” might be closer “to blow.”

Revenu (come back) = “Il est revenu” is often “Y est revenu back” in the Valley.

Rien que (just) = sometimes “yainque” in the Valley though a Frenchman in France wrote me that it is “ien q.”

Ripped off (English) = sometimes “Y se fait fourré.” (Literally, “He got himself fucked.”) You can also sometimes hear, “Y vidaient tes poches.” (Literally, they empty out your pockets.)

Rude (English) = sometimes is “Y est affronter” in the Valley.

Sacré bleu! or Sapristi! (mild cuss word)= “Maudit,” “mautadit,” “tabernak,” “tabarnak,” “tabernoche,” “tabernouche,” “taberwit,” “en ta,” “tabernique,” “tabersnacke,” “calvaire,” “calvanus,” “calvinse,” “câlice,” câlice de tannanterie,” “câline,” “câline de binne,” “enfant de chienne,” “Saint Sibouère d’hostie,” “Holy citron,” “Holy viande,” “Ostie,” “Estie,” “Holy Viarge” “Marde de chien,” “Marde de vache,” “C’est la vie maudit” and “Sibole de Chriss.”

Sacré (damn) = sometimes “sapré.” Sainte-Rose = a town in Québec province that is now called “Dégelis.”

Un salaud (a bastard) = un bâtard.

Sale ou une personne sale (dirty or a dirty person) = sometimes “pigras.”

Les salaires (salaries or wages) = les gages.

Savoir (to know) = saouère.

Saw horse (English) = “une joualette” in Valley-French.

Screwed up = “fourré” or “fucké up.”

Screw someone financially (English) = sometimes “fourré” such as in “Chrisse de cochon! Tu m’as fourré.” Or, “malusé.” Like, “J’ai été malusé.”

Les seins (tits) = “les tétons” or “les jos” like “un rack à jos”. I also heard, “Elle a des grosses bébelles.”

Sens (as in to “feel” good or bad in English) = “file” or “filait” so one can say “Elle file pas ben” or “elle filait pas ben.”

Sobered up (English) = “Y a dégrisé” or “Y a soberé up” in the Valley.

Soft ice cream (English) = sometimes “la crémole.”

Soir (night) = souère.

Soleil (sun) = It is “soleil” in both the Valley and in Paris. For example, I once heard in the Valley, “Le soleil brille pour tout le monde.” “(The sun shines for everyone.”)

Someone who follows you all the time or imitates you (English) = Un chien poche. (Literally a pocket dog.)

Sortir (to leave) = Sometimes “débarquer” in the Valley. When talking about a vehicle in the St. John Valley, I have never heard, “Je suis sorti de voiture.” However, I have heard, “Chu débarqué du char.” I think the verb “débarquer” is an old nautical term that the Acadians used to use when they lived and fished in Nova Scotia. It has stayed with them even after 250 years after 1755.

Stationné (to park) = “parké” so “Il a parké son char.”

Sucker (a type of fish in English that lives at the bottoms of lakes) = sometimes “une cappe.”

Sue (to sue, English) = In Valley-French sometimes, “Y va sou-ey” (spelled phonetically). “He will sue.”

Suivre (to follow) = sometimes “suire.”

Sur (on or on top of something) sometimes “su’.”

Switch = suitché.

Taché (as in stained) = Sometimes “mon gilet est taché” in Paris-French is “Mon T-shirt est placqué” in Valley French (spelled phonetically).

Un télécommande (remote control) = un remote.

Une terrasse (a terrace or a deck) = un deck.

Une tête (a head) = sometimes “une caboche.”

That bugs me (English) = Ça me brule. (Literally, “That burns me.”)

Toi (you) = toé.

Le toit (roof) = sometimes “la couvarture” in the Valley or sometimes “le couverture” in Québec.

La tôle (the roof) = This is a word for “metal roof.” You hear it all over Francophonie, but you need to know it when you talk to farmers or carpenters in the Valley.

To crush (English) = sometimes “dérraquer.”

To sort out (English) = sometimes “arraquer.”

They took me back to the house = Y m’ont ramené back à la maison.

Tiens (here, take this) = “quin” in Québec or “tchin” in the Valley.

Tomber (to fall) = sometimes “tumber” or “timber.”

Un toxicomane (drug addict) = “un drogué” or “un poté.”

Tranquille (quiet) = In the Valley sometimes “trantchille.” In Acadian-French, a lot of k-like sounds turn into “tch” like in “Czechoslovakia” in English.

Travailler (verb to work) = In Paris to say “He is a good worker” might sound like “Il travaille bien.” In the Valley or Canada you might hear, “Y est un gros travaillant.” I have also heard the term to describe someone who works hard as, “Y busse.” (Spelled phonetically.)

Transporté (transport or carry) = “hâlé” or “hâllé” or “shippé.”

A tree cutting machine in the logging industry (English) = une coupeuse à bois.

Trois (three) = sometimes “troisse,” perhaps if describing a feminine object?

Le trottoir (sidewalk) = le bord.

Trot (a horses that trots in English) = sometimes “un trotteux.”

Troublemaker (English) = sometimes in the Valley, “un faiseux de troub’es.”

Unpleasant (English) = sometimes “déplaisant.” You can therefore talk about “Le monde déplaisant.”

Utilisé (to use) = usé.

La vache à Maillotte (a song once sung in Acadia) = Someone who was born in Edmundston wrote down the following words to the song “La vache à Maillotte” for me on July 22, 2010. They are: “Elle est morte la vache à Maillotte./ Elle est morte la tête dans l’potte./ Son service n’a pas été long./ Ça pleurait comme des cochons./ À qui la tête, c’est à Ti Pierre./ À qui la queue, c’est à nos deux./ Elle est morte la vache à Maillotte./ Elle est morte la tête dans l’potte./ Son service n’a pas été long./ Ça pleurait comme des cochons.”

Le vagin (vagina) = “la bidoune” or “la plotte” or “un panneau” or “une plotte à panneau” or “une busse” (someone told me “une busse” was just the genital area of either a male or female; the jury is still out as far as I am concerned).

Un véhicule tout-terrain (VTT or all-terrain vehicle) = “un bike” or “un quat’e roues” (the “r” in “quatre” is usually silent in the Valley).

Vendredi (Friday) = sometimes “vendordi” in the Valley. For example, according to a website that quoted the novel “La Sagouine,” I found the sentence, “Ils faisiont rien qu’un péché de plusse d’aller communier le vendordi matin avec leu messe de dimanche sus la conscience.”

Venu (past tense of come) = Sometimes “mnu.” However, I have seen this used with the past tense of “avoir” instead of with “être.” For example, on April 7, 2010, I read in the “St. John Valley Times” “J’ai pas mnu icitte pour m’éreinter.” (“I did not come here to exhaust myself.”) Sometimes, however, “mnu” does appear with some tense of “être,” such as in the sentence “Y est mnu?”

Venteux (windy) = I have never heard anyone in the American St. John Valley say, “C’est venteux.” However, I have heard, “Y vente.”

Vérifié (verify or check)= “tchecker” or “tcheker.”

Verte (feminine of green) = sometimes “varte.” Many people in the Valley like to talk about a program on Radio-Canada TV, which they pronounce as “La semaine varte.”

Vibrer (to vibrate) = sometimes “vibraité.” (Sounds like the English “vibrate” but with a “é” at the end.)

Une vitrine (glass in a window) = sometimes une vit’e.

Voir (to see) = ouère (according to Don Levesque’s “St. John Valley Times” articles) or wouère (according to some websites that I Googled).

Voisin (neighbor) = sometimes “ouasin.”

Une voiture (car) = un char. I could have sworn I once also heard “un tchar.” (It might be the Acadian influence of turning a lot of words with “ch” into a “tch,” which used to be done in France when colonization of the New World was starting.

La voix (voice) = la voé.

Worn out (English) = sometimes “maganer.” So if someone looks worn out or exhausted, you can say “Y est magané.”

You’re full of crap (English) = sometimes “T’es plein de marde toé!” I once heard this phrase when a Valley resident said I was rich, and I responded that I was poor and did not work at Fraser.

Un zizi (in France, penis) = “un pinotte” or “une pissette” in the St. John Valley or “une bizoune” or “une quéquette” in Québec.