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The Canadian slang word hoser, "a term having spawned several popular false etymologies", meaning "a person who is considered unintelligent or uncouth, especially a beer-drinking man" (Dictionary.com), doesn't seem to be in English-French dictionaries even though it's a uniquely Canadian concept (the origin of which might have been a self-deprecating usage):

A Canadian, esp a simple and durable northern type •Originated by comedians Dave Thomas and Rick Moranis for the television skits called ''The Great White North,'' where it was used by the mentally challenged Mackenzie brothers: unavailable to us hosers, but can be bought down south/ unlike their hoser cousins (1980s+ Canadian) (Dictionary.com).

More or less adapted solutions may exist, but what word/expression (including slang) is normally used by French Canadians to mean just that?

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    Apparently, "hoser" isn't even used by Canadians, it's a word used to imitate Canadians, why would there be word in Canadian French ? Commented Feb 6, 2017 at 14:47
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    @TeleportingGoat Apparemment. L'article Wikipédia commence avec cette affirmation que vous faites, liée à la note 1. La note 1 renvoie à ceci, où on ne mentionne aucunement que c'est utilisé surtout par ceux qui imiteraient des Canadiens, on y dit plutôt que c'est du slang canadien, au même titre que ski-doo, toque ou Newfie. Toute information qui provient d'un truc qui débute par le mot wiki doit faire l'objet d'une validation, incluant des références... Commented Feb 6, 2017 at 21:28
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    I'm sitting next to a Canadian at work, and a Canadian who plays hockey (where supposedly hoser comes from). He said he never heard that word. Commented Feb 19, 2017 at 5:28
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    As a Canadian, I'll add that though I've encountered the word now and then, I've never used it myself, or heard it used, unironically -- that is, to talk "how Americans think we talk" (a frequent source of amusement up here). Commented Feb 19, 2017 at 17:40
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    Ça semble être un genre de "redneck" canadien, non ? Le "beauf" de chez nous. Commented Feb 19, 2017 at 23:06

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hoser in french is idiot for masculine or idiote for feminine. but idiot and idiote translate in to foolish person. I dont think there is a french Canadian word that means hoser i think this is as close to hoser as they have in the french Canadian language. i looked hoser up in a website called word reference.

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    "Hoser" contains three ideas: "stupid" + "loser" + "beer-drinking", French idiot is far from a good translation. Using formatting and proper punctuation helps to readability of any written text. There are much better places than WordReference when looking for definitions or translations. Commented Feb 19, 2017 at 8:57
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'Beauf' seems to be the closest French equivalent. Contemporary, short for 'beau-frere', an uncouth idiot you unfortunately have to put up with..

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  • oh wait, there's an official definition.. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauf Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 18:58
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    -1. Beauf is clearly French French and question is Canadian French. Commented Apr 21, 2017 at 23:16
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In French we have two or three words similar, with slightly different meanings (in my region of France).

"Beauf" Describes someone shameless, mysoginist, who sometimes likes racist jokes, wears strange clothes and has a bad habit with alcool (particurlarly beer and pastis).

"Poivrot" typically someone visiting the village pub everyday at any time and drinking waayy too much. We say "Le poivrot du village". He is not necessarily a loser and a stupid man, but he is known for being regurlarly drunk and behave like an asshole.

I think "Poivrot" fits perfectly here.

The meaning of a word or expression can be different between two regions of France.

Hope it helps !

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  • Dans le même registre que "poivreau", il y a "pochtron" aussi. Commented Jun 9, 2017 at 8:01
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Badaud might be something close to hoser that carries a Quebec French meaning.

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    Has nothing to do with the meaning of badaud in Hexagonal French, then. Commented Dec 4, 2024 at 9:32
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The McKenzie brothers and I come from the same era and class although I would place them in Eastern Ontario while I'm from farther west. My dialect didn't have hoser, but we did use hosed. It meant to be beaten in a game to the point of feeling humiliated. So I suspect hoser is someone who loses consistently and badly, similar to my understanding of schlemiehl. I don't know Québecois slang so don't know their equivalent but I suspect every language has one. (Grammatically hoser is wrong but grammar was not a strong suit in that time or place and none of us would have said hosee. It would not have sounded manly.)

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  • As it’s currently written, your answer is unclear. Please edit to add additional details that will help others understand how this addresses the question asked. You can find more information on how to write good answers in the help center. Commented Dec 6, 2024 at 21:25

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