As my Christmas gift to the community of avid learners of the French language, I thought that I would introduce you to
“veux, veux pas”, an expression which I learned near the end of my first year living in the Quebec interior. Although I had heard this expression a number of times, by the end of my first year, I had not yet grasped its meaning.
I was living and working in a full-immersion French environment without benefit of language instruction and, as anyone who has learned a new language in similar circumstances can attest, things move along simply too quickly for you to stop and question the meaning of every new word, phrase, expression, or colloquialism with which you are constantly bombarded. Furthermore, whether it was this particular expression or one of the thousands of others that permeate the language, many of them do not crop up all that often, a matter which increases the difficulty of learning them. It did not help matters that the expression was invariably uttered very quickly as
“v-v pas” as an introduction to some other very quickly-spoken expression of the need, requirement, or necessity to do something, or to refrain from doing something, which was the
real focal point of the brief utterance...
Veux, veux pas, il faut que ...
Veux, veux pas, on va devoir ...
Veux, veux pas, tu ne peux pas ...When asked to repeat the utterance, most people (whether in French or English) drop the "veux, veux pas" and repeat the essential message only.
As I was becoming increasingly comfortable in the language near the end of my first year, I finally had an opportunity to ask one of my colleagues (who had just uttered
"v-v pas, ‘faut qu’on ..."), to explain the expression to me. He looked genuinely surprised at the thought that I had not already absorbed this common expression, but he very willingly explained that it meant, in his words,
“Si tu veux faire quelque chose ou si tu ne veux pas la faire, il faut que tu la fasses, t’as pas le choix. Donc, veux, veux pas.” In Quebec, the expression
“veux, veux pas” is delivered as an
extremely quick “v-v pas”, the two “v’s” being almost crushed together. The attached link provides a more standard explanation.
Veux, veux pas – Reverso Dictionnairehttp://dictionnaire.reverso.net/francais-definition/veux%2C%20veux%20pasAddendum:
I have never bothered searching for an English translation of "veux, veux pas"; however, to my mind, the equivalent would be something akin to "whether you want to or not ..." or, simply, "like it not ..."
I would note that the expression "veux, veux pas" is not necessarily followed by a statement of obligation to do, or to refrain from doing, something. That is, it simply "hangs in the air", because the unstated obligation is understood by both speakers, just as in English "well, like it or not ..." can be left hanging.
When left hanging, voice inflection can be used in both languages to imply that the person on the receiving end of "veux, veux pas ... / well, like it or not ..." should resign themselves to their unstated but clearly understood fate. Well, them's the berries ... !
Joyeux Noël!
EDITED:
Addendum.
Voice inflection.
Examples.
