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 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!
"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.
Most of the sales in deps are cigarettes, beer, soda and snacks. Deps generally appeal to younger people and the working class.
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.
thangalin•4h ago