Sympa

As I have mentioned before, when people ask me about the difference between Canadian or Québecois French and French as spoken in France, I liken it to the difference between British and North American English: different accents and some different words or expressions.

One new expression I immediately encountered upon arrival in SaintÉ was "sympa," but immediately caught onto its meaning.

sympa (sim-pah): cool

Sympa is short for sympathique and translates as "cool," (or "nice," or "kind," depending on the context).




Le Sympa, a restaurant in SaintÉ I've never been to, although I'm sure it's très sympa.


For example, when I returned from Belgium the night before school resumed, I was starving. When I got home, my room mates had left a note on my bedroom door welcoming me back and letting me know I could help myself to the beef stew they had made for dinner. What's more, my room mate Andrenne had bought me an African Violet for my room.

As this anecdote illustrates, my room mates are très sympa, for which I am fortunate.