Depanneur in OED

[Speakeasy]

Useless Information: ON

It is interesting how words enter a language. In late June, the editors of the Oxford English Dictionary announced that, amongst other new entries, the word “dépanneur” had been recognized as a English-Canadian variant of the more universally-accepted “convenience store” or “corner store”. The OED spelling leaves off the accent.

What I find particularly interesting in this case is that the word entered the OED via its use by English-Canadians living in Québec and not directly from the French of either Québec or of France. “Dépanneur” also appears in French dictionaries in the sense of “convenience store”; however, only as a Canadian (Québec) regionalism.

Useless Information: OFF