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Jen Rose Smith, " Excuse my French? The swear words that used to be illegal in Canada ", BBC 11/4/2026:

Speakers of Québécois French are known for using a unique class of blasphemous swear words derived from Catholic terms known as sacres ("sacred" profanities). Among the most famous are the seemingly innocent tabarnak ("tabernacle"), câlisse ("chalice") and Criss ("Christ"). But when angrily deployed, they carry all the offensive heft of English profanity.

When researching his 1980 book Le Guide Raisonné des Jurons (The Reasoned Guide to Swear Words), local folklorist Jean-Pierre Pichette recorded some 1,800 Québécois sacres. Some linguists now put the number at closer to 2,000.…