Oops? Looks I've been saying it
WRONG! 
This last in the series, for the moment--sigh--is called: Dinner at Marty’s?
(FYI: Jack's Falconer teammate, Marty, is a francophone Quebecer like Jack--so when you see the 'sideways' carets/angle brackets/chevrons/guillemets in the dialogue,
Ngozi is letting us know that Jack and Marty are switching from English to French, or, more likely, Quebec French/Le québécois )
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillemet
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_French
http://www.fluentin3months.com/quebec-french/
Well, NO, apparently NOT!! DUH!!!!!
(If you are speaking/writing in English, then say/reference it as "French." Or at least say "Quebec French" but do NOT say:
Le québécois )
sol·e·cism
ˈsäləˌsizəm,ˈsōləˌsizəm/
noun
a grammatical mistake in speech or writing.
synonyms: (grammatical) mistake, error, blunder; More
a breach of good manners; a piece of incorrect behavior.
synonyms: faux pas, gaffe, impropriety, social indiscretion, infelicity, slip, error, blunder, lapse;OMGCHECKPLEASE!FANTHOUGHTS_OMGPIEPLEASEhttp://omgpieplease.tumblr.com/
electran: http://electran.tumblr.com/
omg im laughing nobody in canada/quebec calls the french language “quebecois.” i have never heard this in my life. it’s like saying you “speak american.” we just call it french. you might say you speak “american english” or “quebecois french” if you wanna be specific, but never just “american” or “quebecois.” anyway i laugh every time i see this so just fyi and pls signal boost
audiaphilios: http://audiaphilios.tumblr.com/ http://audiaphilios.tumblr.com/post/154988574885/audiaphilios-electran-omg-im-laughing-nobody
http://omgpieplease.tumblr.com/post/154989895307/audiaphilios-audiaphilios-electran-omg-im
Okay, so how this debate shakes out (based on the comments) for the canon is thus:
For Jack, Marty, Bad Bob, etc., “Québécois” is an adjective, not a noun. It can be used to modify the kind of French they speak, but (as I’ve been given to understand from @wheeloffortune-design), the French they write is simply French. (Can someone break down for me where and how the term Joual fits into this?)
For folks outside of Quebec, read: most of the characters, they might refer to the language Jack speaks as Québécois, even if he would object. (Let’s be honest, this is probably an argument between Jack and Bitty on par with “pecan”.) (For that matter, can one of you Quebeckers explain how YOU would pronounce pecan?)
I’m just confrontation-averse, and I see people getting het up about this. But let us come together as a fandom and know this Cool Thing That Will Improve Our Characterisation. Please?
Folks from Quebec will not use Québécois to refer to their own language. Folks outside of Quebec, including other parts of Canada and a lot of the US (and, based on the French folk I know, them too) will likely refer to it as such.
And let’s be honest, if Jack tries to use the argument “That’s like me saying you speak ‘American’!” Bitty would almost surely reply with some variation of: “You’re goshdarned right I do! Just try an’ find an Englishman who talks like me!” (Remember, this is the guy who suggested an Englishman buy and English muffin, and had a Venn diagram in his notes “comparing rugby and American college football.”)
audiaphilios: http://audiaphilios.tumblr.com/ http://audiaphilios.tumblr.com/post/154988574885/audiaphilios-electran-omg-im-laughing-nobody
http://omgpieplease.tumblr.com/post/154989895307/audiaphilios-audiaphilios-electran-omg-im
Shitty: But, brah, your mom’s American.
Jack: That doesn’t invalidate the other half of my heritage or experience, Shits.
Consider me educated.
via @akadienne http://akadienne.tumblr.com/
But the problem is that french canadians (outside of quebec) are a marginalized population and already have to deal with their language being mocked and lacking prestige. When we call it french we do it to remind people that its still the same language that all francophones speak, just a different dialect. I know I’ve done it but it’s hard to compare “quebecois vs french” to “american vs english” bc anglophones/americans have an enormous amount of privilege and calling it “american” is seen as a joke whereas calling it “quebecois” takes away a huge part of our history and culture. And tbh – quebecois people within quebec have also a huge amount of privilege compared to other francophone canadians, because their french is often seen as “better” than the rest (and they have more ressources/bigger population) so to call it quebecois instead of french just puts them on a different level, again.
Basically: if you’re not french canadian, listen to french canadians. Every one I’ve spoken to about this doesn’t call it québécois.
audiaphilios: http://audiaphilios.tumblr.com/ http://audiaphilios.tumblr.com/post/154988574885/audiaphilios-electran-omg-im-laughing-nobody
http://omgpieplease.tumblr.com/post/154989895307/audiaphilios-audiaphilios-electran-omg-im
That being said and understood, I would love to see this conversation happen in fic format. Not just because I adore fic, but because “how to properly characterise French Canadians” as a lesson to the fandom is more likely to stick around longer on AO3 than via a tumblr post that gets reblogged in its various incarnations.
Not only could we have History Buff Jack talking to Shits about it (Shitty History with Jack Zimmermann, but there could be discussion with Ransom about differing Canadian attitudes about the language and the culture (FRENCH SHIT with Ransom and Jack), maybe Jack talking to Nursey about the differences between spoken and written French in Quebec and the fraught history there, and also a side scene where Jack embarrassedly explains why he doesn’t use French swears in the bedroom. Some not-Quebec French Canadian scenes with a Falconer might also be cool– Acadien D-man Étienne “Savvy” Savoie (although I’m coming up with that name based on my Cajun French background)?
Look, I’d write it myself if I wasn’t so recently schooled– I just know that our colective writing-of-Jack has improved by reading fics by people who knew what they were talking about.*
So um, yes. For whatever my platform’s worth, consider the use of “Québécois” as the entire name of a language not the way to do it don’t be an asshole Aud.
*According to my informal but thorough survey of the Eric Bittle/Jack Zimmermann tag over the past eight months, spanning the past three years. WHEW!!!!
