Before Amazon existed there was a thing called "Librairies" too.
Why not use the standard French word for it "droguerie"? Dépanneur or Couche-tard does have a lot more charm to it though, agreed.
I can think of more unsavory/xenophobic/slang terms for it, but droguerie seems more appropriate.
And on the other end for someone who never been to Québec, "Je vais au dépanneur" sounds like "I'm going to the mechanics (to fix my car)". Very creative.
I'm also curious how a convenience store is called in other francophone areas of the world.
For example https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9panneur says:
Le mot dépanneur peut désigner :
[…]
au Québec, une petite épicerie de proximité ou une supérette.
en Suisse romande, une petite épicerie ouverte les soirs ou les week-ends.
[…]
I find it funny that in France it’s more common to see anglicisms (parking, le weekend) whereas in Quebec more “francized” terms are more common (stationnement, fin de semaine). And then Francois Legault goes and in a speech praising the work of the French language watchdog says “faut faire la job”. Facepalm!
Because Quebec culture is largely about demonizing anglophones and trying to push them out of the province.
But that’s not the reality nor majority of people who want that.
"Out of order" is something you see on a broken machine and not something to do with a shop!
One day, the AI kiddies will manage to work out how to stuff "Idia" into their wanky offerings. Until then, I'd rather read comments like yours.
Merci.
A tool that would dépanne you would be a tool that would do the job poorly but well enough for now. This is how the name is meant to be understood, a small store where you can buy like eggs, beer, milk, bread (it's a convenience store), maybe batteries, but not a full grocery store or pharmacy or tool place.
Dépanneuse == Tow truck
Il m'a dépanné en me prêtant vingt dollars. == He lent me $20 to help me out.
Ah la belle langue!
Dépanneur as convenience store could be a Quebec thing.
This phrase existed because the penne was a wood affixed to the mast of sailboat that allowed you to move the sail such that the boat slowed down and stopped.
That thing was called the penne because it looked like a pen (the writing instrument)
Most of the sales in deps are cigarettes, beer, soda and snacks. Deps generally appeal to younger people and the working class.
Most people had a dep number on a fridge magnet back in the day.
It has long since lost its etymological purpose. Deps are entirely unhealthy waste of spaces now that grocery stores are omnipresent.
A dep sounds like the subject of "Open all hours". Nurse Gladys would approve!
One dep takes the space of one apartment, and it helps the thousands of residents around it to not have to walk 15min to get milk.
Seems like a fair trade to me.
https://allaboutberlin.com/glossary/Sp%C3%A4ti
The main innovation of Spätis is the tables outside. You can buy a cold beer for €2 and drink it with friends right outside, or go for a walk with it. The road beer (Wegbier) is a staple of long walks in good company.
Great for pre-drinks though
> a meeting point for discussion of politics and sports
Dépanneurs are still very much a thing here, but like most good things, endangered by suffocating industry capture by oligopolies.
Doing my part by doing my late-night party beer runs at my corner dep.
https://urbananews.ca/quebecs-corner-stores-vanish-as-locals...
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2025/07/06/qu...
I wonder if the stores originally were 'dépanneurs', as the original meaning, having started a side business next to their car fixing? Like how 7-11 started from an ice house in Dallas.
Or is it a play on 'helping you to get going again'?
thangalin•6mo ago