tabarnak

French

Alternative forms

• tabarnaque
• tabarnac

Etymology

Originally a Quebec eye-dialect spelling of tabernacle.

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. Why an expletive? What was the semantic shift?

Pronunciation

• (Quebec) IPA^(key): /ta.baʁ.nak/

• Audio (Quebec, Côte-Nord):

  (file)

Interjection

tabarnak

1. (Quebec, vulgar, slang) An expletive and intensifier for all purposes.

   Synonyms: câlisse, crisse, ostie

   • 2009, Robert Maltais, Le Curé du Mile End, page 195:

     Non, non, c’est juste une joke. Garde-lé, ton vingt piastres. C’t’une tabarnak de gang de fous: j’ai les poches pleines. M’a te dire rien qu’une affaire: tu l’as en tabarnak ! Non, non, c’est vrai. T’es correct, toé.

     No, no, I was just joking. Keep it, your twenty bucks. They're all a fuckin' bunch of idiots: my pockets are full. Lemme tell ya something: you fuckin' have it! No, no, it's true: you're quite good, you.

   • 2023, Friday Night SmackDown, spoken by Sami Zayn:

     Roman Reigns, écoute-moi bien: demain soir, t’es chez moi tabarnak!

     Roman Reigns, listen to me: tommorow night, you're in my fuckin' house!

Usage notes

Considered the greatest and most offensive of all the Quebec curse words.

Related terms

• (minced oath) tabarcul, tabarjak, tabarnache, tabarnane, tabarnique, tabarnouche, tabarouette, tabarslack, tabaslack, taboire (cross with ciboire), tabouena
• (abbreviation) TBK, TBNK
• tabarnacos (Mexican name for Québécois)
• tabarnaker, tabarnacquer, tabarnaquer