Can Quebec’s Church-based curse words survive in a secular age?

The social changes resulting from the desertion of Quebec church pews have been widely documented: smaller families, fewer marriages, a reformed education system, to name a few. The fate of religious buildings rendered obsolete has generated considerable angst.

But what, en criss, is going to happen to the province’s preferred swear words?

When francophone Quebecers whack a thumb with a hammer or get cut off in traffic, the curses that spew forth are overwhelmingly drawn from objects found in the Catholic Church: ostie, tabarnak, ciboire, câlice, criss! But a new book by a Montreal theology professor and an exhibition at a religion museum raise the question, how long can the distinctively Québécois swear words survive in a secular age?

At the Musée des religions du monde (Museum of World Religions) in Nicolet, about 110 kilometres northeast of Montreal, Jean-Francois-Royal is regularly struck by the widening gulf between Quebecers and their Catholic heritage. “We are at the point where we have a generation of students who ask, ‘Who is the guy on the cross?’ ” Mr. Royal, the museum’s director, said.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/09/09/can-quebecs-church-based-curse-words-survive-in-a-secular-age/

Sacrebleu!

isn't even a mild curse in Quebec Tabarnac, calice!

My wife found it funny when the first French words I learned were all the curse words first.

based on sex and excretion just like everyone else.

a phrase which I think was a swear, but can't seem to find any reference to on Google, probably because I'm not spelling it right. The phrase, phonetically, sounded like "e cad vie". I think it was based on the word calvaire, "Calvary". That was quite a popular phrase in my neighborhood.

UK films and reading British mysteries, I am strike by how often they use "Christ" as a swear word.

Right before "Jesus Christ", "Jesus H. Christ", and "Jesus Fucking Christ". Doesn't mean I believe in god - just that those words are particularly satisfying to use as curse words.

...which makes little sense, but sometimes that phrase mysteriously suits the occasion.

This can be dragged out to, "Jesus H. Christ on a fucking crutch!" when particularly exasperated.

And 'Jesus' and if you're really frustrated 'Jesus Christ!'

And our favourite adjective 'bloody' comes from the presumably Catholic oath: 'By our Lady!'

I'm an Atheist and I still say "Goddammit" "go to Hell", "good Lord", and "Jesus Christ Almighty". :shrug: