Quebec’s mercurial and controversial language police have decided that using the word “go” is a legitimate way to cheer on sports teams in the province, paving the way for excited fans – and Montreal’s transit agency - to celebrate without fear of recrimination.
In new guidelines, the Office Québécois de la Langue Française (OQLF, the Quebec Board of the French Language) said that “go” was now “partially legitimized”, according to reporting by the Canadian Press, although the language watchdog says it prefers the French equivalent: allez.
The decision comes amid a fight in the province to preserve the French language.
Earlier in the year, the Montreal Canadiens ice hockey team were playing their first playoff home game when the transit agency placed the common phrase “Go! Canadiens Go!” on digital banners used on 1,000 buses within the city.
However, the language police told Montreal’s transit agency it needed to remove the word “go” from the electronic signs to stay within the confines of the province’s language laws. The transit agency acquiesced, replacing the signage with “Allez! Canadiens Allez!”.
Following on the reporting by the Montreal Gazette, however, French-language minister Jean-François Roberge intervened and said “Go Habs Go” is part of Quebec culture and pledged to dismiss any future complaints about the slogan. The Canadiens, the country’s oldest professional hockey team, are also colloquially known as the ‘Habs’ – a reference to les habitants, the settlers of French origin who came to Quebec beginning in the 17th century.
Quebec’s fastidious attempts to protect the French language have made headlines in the past.
In 2022 the owner of a bar and barbershop received a warning from Quebec’s language police that his establishment was in violation of the province’s language laws after someone filed a complaint claiming the bar’s Facebook page wasn’t bilingual enough.
“All consumers have the fundamental right of being informed and served in French in Quebec,” the OQLF said in a statement at the time.
And in 2019 the government proposed banning the popular greeting “Bonjour-hi”, only to quickly backtrack amid outrage and ridicule from residents.
Most famously, however, is the “pasta-gate” scandal of 2013, when the owner of the Italian restaurant at Buonanotte was told he had run afoul of the law when he used the words “pasta” on the menu and “bottiglia”, the Italian word for bottle, instead of the French word “bouteille”. For many, the row reflected an over-zealous language watchdog eager to flex its muscles. The incident culminated in the resignation of the head of the OQLF less than a month later.
In both 2021 and 2023, the language watchdog received complaints from the public over the use of the word “go” when used to cheer on the Canadiens, according to the Canadian Press.
The word “go” is a borrowed anglophone term with “well-established” use in the province, the language watchdog said, but noted that public entities, such as the city’s transit service, are nonetheless obliged to use “exemplary” French.
Earlier in the week, Montreal’s transit agency said it was now “beginning its reflection on the subject” of returning the word “go” to the fleet of buses, but no decision would be made imminently.
