Taboo language does not go unnoticed by the eagle-eyed staff of Language Log. In the month of November alone, you can find the following posts on this topic (here), (here), (here), and (here). Now comes an article in the Washington Post explaining that profanity in French-speaking Canada offers new and exciting vistas in the taboo language biz.
Apparently the Quebecois turn to religion when they swear. The f-words and the s**t words just don't cut it in Montreal. No sexual cussing. No scatalogical terms. Just religion -- like "hostie" (host) or, in polite company, "tabar" (tabernacle). The reason for all this? For them, religion is taboo, not sex or body functions, says Professor Andre Lapierre of the University of Ottawa.
All of this led to a rather feeble effort at defensive language planning by the Montreal Archdiocese. It commissioned a bunch of billboards using the taboo words, "tabernacle" and "chalice," but explaining what they really mean in the church. Not surprisingly, the effort didn't seem to work out very well and religious taboo words are still common there.
Oh tabernacle! What the wafer!
Posted by Roger Shuy at December 5, 2006 12:52 PM