Canadian French word help please

[Nancyg56]

My Mom used a lot of French slang when we were kids and we used tehm now. The problem is that I cannot spell most of them So can I ask some of my DIS friends to help me?

We always call house slippers "Pichoos" butI doubt that is how to spell it.

We have "Minoos" under eh bed but I know that is not right

Can someone help me? For some reason it is important to me to spell these words correctly

 

[Cruisin]

You could try posting this on the Canadian board.

You might get an answer that way

 

[maslex]

My grandparents came from Canada and we always called slippers "puh puhns" I sooooo know that's not the way to spell it or if that's even a word, but that's what we used. LOL

I did a Canadian French/English translation online and the word slippers came up as pantoufles.

And I'm not sure what you were referring to by minoos under your bed? LOL

 

[Gigi22]

If I understand the phonetics correctly, you were actually saying you had kittens or cats under the bed. As to the slippers--no idea. You might try looking up a joual dictionary for colloquial Canadian French.

 

[Magpie]

Minou is a cat... Is it possible your mother refers to dust bunnies as "kittens"?

No idea about the slippers.

Other slang... Going "do-do" (pronounced "dough-dough") means going to bed or going for a nap. T'chien is any little dog. A depanneur (pronounced "dep-pan-air") is a convenience store.

 

[marcyinPA]

My mom's side has French Canadian too...(I was born and raised in NH) and we called slippers "pea shoes" too! I know I didn't spell it right, but that's how we pronounced it. My grandmother called a bathrobe a housecoat...I don't know anyone else who used that term for a robe. And she used to have some interesting French sayings (or at least they sounded French....one of them was "E cadoo cadoo"....and she said it when something happened that required an "eye roll"...LOL)
I hope you find the spelling!

 

[beaucoup]

If I understand the phonetics correctly, you were actually saying you had kittens or cats under the bed. As to the slippers--no idea. You might try looking up a joual dictionary for colloquial Canadian French.

That's what I was going to say. Cats or kittens. I used to say that to my dad as I stroked his puffed up cheeks for some reason, then pat them hard to let the air out. Makes no sense, but I did it as a kid all the time.

 

[Gigi22]

I believe the current phrase for dust bunnies is "moutons"--sheep.

 

[michellev]

My mom's side has French Canadian too...(I was born and raised in NH) and we called slippers "pea shoes" too! I know I didn't spell it right, but that's how we pronounced it. My grandmother called a bathrobe a housecoat...I don't know anyone else who used that term for a robe. And she used to have some interesting French sayings (or at least they sounded French....one of them was "E cadoo cadoo"....and she said it when something happened that required an "eye roll"...LOL)
I hope you find the spelling!

I'm from Ontario, Canada (not at all French Canadian) and have always used the word "housecoat". Now I'm wondering if it's a Canadian thing, I had no idea.

 

[Carina]

Housecoat here in BC too (never a bathrobe) Must be Canadian

 

[rascalmom]

I think "housecoat" is more of an "era" thing than a regional thing. Both of my grandmothers used that term too.....one of them was from Arkansas, the other from Oklahoma. I don't think either of them ever even visited Canada!

 

[BKMETV]

I'm from Ontario, Canada (not at all French Canadian) and have always used the word "housecoat". Now I'm wondering if it's a Canadian thing, I had no idea.

Another Canadian for housecoat. Hope it's not an era thing...I know I'm old but my kids call it that too!

 

[michellev]

I think "housecoat" is more of an "era" thing than a regional thing. Both of my grandmothers used that term too.....one of them was from Arkansas, the other from Oklahoma. I don't think either of them ever even visited Canada!

It may be an old fashioned term in the U.S., but it's definitely still in popular use in Canada (as can be seen from the responses in this thread).

 

[michellev]

I think "housecoat" is more of an "era" thing than a regional thing. Both of my grandmothers used that term too.....one of them was from Arkansas, the other from Oklahoma. I don't think either of them ever even visited Canada!

It may be an old fashioned term in the U.S., but it's definitely still in popular use in Canada (as can be seen from the responses in this thread).

 

[Pig Pen]

I'm from Ontario, Canada (not at all French Canadian) and have always used the word "housecoat". Now I'm wondering if it's a Canadian thing, I had no idea.

HOUSECOAT here in northern Vermont...must be spillage from over the border!

 

[Tinijocaro]

Minou is a cat... Is it possible your mother refers to dust bunnies as "kittens"?

No idea about the slippers.

Other slang... Going "do-do" (pronounced "dough-dough") means going to bed or going for a nap. T'chien is any little dog. A depanneur (pronounced "dep-pan-air") is a convenience store.

We had two cats, Minoun (same as your word but with an n on the end) and Pitoun. Not sure if it was just my mom, but she nicknamed a certain female body part Pitoun, which was shortened by us kids to P2. We all still call it that to this day and so do my kids. Both my parents (are)were French speaking, French Canadian. Was glad for this nickname when dd2 shoved a breath strip down her pants at the supermarket and very loudly cried "Mine P2 feels spicey!!"

Do-do. Mom used to sing Fais Do-do to us kids and tell us to fais do-do when she wanted us to go to sleep.

 

[BKMETV]

I believe all the words are just slangs:

cat in french is chat but minou is pussycat
dog is chien but pitou is puppy dog

dodo is what you would say to a child...sort of like time for beddy-byes.

 

[Nancyg56]

Minou is a cat... Is it possible your mother refers to dust bunnies as "kittens"?

No idea about the slippers.

Other slang... Going "do-do" (pronounced "dough-dough") means going to bed or going for a nap. T'chien is any little dog. A depanneur (pronounced "dep-pan-air") is a convenience store.

My Mom called her cat minou but she called female furry things "Minoun". She said that minous were the furry things under the bed...dust bunnies

My mom's side has French Canadian too...(I was born and raised in NH) and we called slippers "pea shoes" too! I know I didn't spell it right, but that's how we pronounced it. My grandmother called a bathrobe a housecoat...I don't know anyone else who used that term for a robe. And she used to have some interesting French sayings (or at least they sounded French....one of them was "E cadoo cadoo"....and she said it when something happened that required an "eye roll"...LOL)
I hope you find the spelling!

Yup we call slippers pea shoes but I thiught that it was some sort of slang. I still call my slippers pichoos. And I have not thought if "Fait dodo" since my Kady was a baby. My Mom always said that when she was putting little ones to bed adn I did with Kady.

I miss my Mom a lot today. thank you for bringing back some of her phrases

We had two cats, Minoun (same as your word but with an n on the end) and Pitoun. Not sure if it was just my mom, but she nicknamed a certain female body part Pitoun, which was shortened by us kids to P2. We all still call it that to this day and so do my kids. Both my parents (are)were French speaking, French Canadian. Was glad for this nickname when dd2 shoved a breath strip down her pants at the supermarket and very loudly cried "Mine P2 feels spicey!!"

Do-do. Mom used to sing Fais Do-do to us kids and tell us to fais do-do when she wanted us to go to sleep.

 

[camlace]

Pichou is the spelling. I know this because my sister got a little bunny with slippers for easter a few years back (as an adult). She called him "Pee-shoes" because our French Canadian family always called slippers "Pee-shoes". So time goes by, our mother sees a picture with a caption with "Pee-shoes" in it and pointed out to my sister that she obviously had no clue how to spell it So finally after my sister and I wondering for years how to spell it she finally enlightened us

 

[Magpie]

Another French term that the Anglos here use a lot is "cadeau" (pronounced cad-dough). It's not technically slang, but the way people use it is funny. It's kind of sarcastic, like if you've dumped a horrible job on someone, you can laugh and say, "It's a little cadeau. For you!" It's like saying, "It's a special present."

Oh, and my family says "housecoat", too.

Here's an odd one, though, that I've only ever heard from my French Canadian father-in-law. I don't know how to spell it, but it sounds like "peesh-nut". If you rap the top of someone's head with your knuckles, you're giving him a "little peesh-nut"! He used to do it to the dog, when it was bad. His kids, too, sometimes.