Don Levesque's
Franco-American Dictionary

Finally, someone is challenging the conventional restraints of the traditional French language. "Le Parler de Chez Nous" (The Language of Our House) is a new informal dictionary of French "patois", or dialect language translated according to the positively biased interpretation of Don Levesque. Northern Mainers know Levesque as editor and columnist of the weekly newspaper "St. John Valley Times". He is a local humorist and pundit who captures quaint stories and homespun news in his weekly column "Mes cinq sous" (My Five Cents).

French language purists will bristle at Levesque's colorful translations in his "patois" dictionary, but Franco-Americans will howl at the hundreds of phrases and words he resurrects from his personal experiences growing up in New Brunswick, Canada, and working in Maine’s St. John River Valley. 

Levesque avoids any claim that his personal dictionary is a collection of completely pure French words. "I would be astounded if the French is one-hundred-percent correct", says Levesque. 

"My French is phonetic French. I write the way I talk," he says. Readers are advised to read the dictionary out loud in order to hear the words like people in the St.John Valley say them. So, for $6.50 plus postage, anyone can own a copy of Levesque's French dictionary. Actually, the book is a cultural gift, even if his spelling is sometimes suspect. "I guarantee my spelling is not always correct!," says Levesque.

Let's face it, our current Franco-Americans generations are likely the last ones on the planet to use their special patois on a regular basis. In Northern Maine, about 85 percent of the 20,000 local residents consider themselves Franco-Americans who still speak French at home and with friends. 

Following are the top ten favorite patois picked from the hundreds in Levesque's lexicon. "Tasse toue une fesse" means "move over!". "Banc d’neige" is the absolute phonetic translation for a "snow bank". "Licheu" is a flatterer or a "brown-nose". "Ecornifleux" means "a nosey person". A cute phrase might be "Il est un ecornifleux licheu" (He is a nosey brown-nose). "Bedenne" is the patois for "stomach", like the protruding waist of a heavy man. "Aller ou moving asteur" is patois for "We are going to the movies, now". Well dressed men wear "claques", especially during a snowstorm. "Claques" is patois for the protective coverings worn over dress shoes.

"Famme ta boite" is a rude patois for "shut up". This is a common patois between quarreling siblings. "Faire son samedi" is patois for "clean the house", or literally translated this means "to do on Saturday". House cleaning is an big ritual in immaculately clean Franco-American homes. "Ca fait parler l’djobbe" is an appropriate patois to describe Levesque's contribution to the Franco-American culture. In other words, the collection of expressions in Le Parler de Chez Nous are "incredible".

"My dictionary is not a scholarly undertaking", says Levesque. With all due respect, Levesque is too humble about his dictionary and its contributions to the Franco-American culture. The dictionary even contains a separate section of adult phrases, but even this collection of rare and controversial words are important because harmless cursing is quite common in Franco-American friendly conversation. 

More information about the unusual dictionary is available by writing to Don Levesque at 696 West Main Street, Madawaska, Maine 04756.

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