JustFly’s Guide To Montreal’s Local Lingo

While every city has its unique kicks, few are as unique as the city of Montreal, Quebec. Sitting on the spiritual border between English Canada and French Canada, the city has developed its own unique lexicon of more or less Montreal exclusive words and usages.

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While knowing either French or English is good enough, there are a few words that will come in handy that every Montrealer will understand. In order to wrap my head around the lingo I spoke with the online travel agency JustFly. Their staff know a thing or two about travelling in La Belle Province and threw me a few words to remember if you find yourself in the city of Montreal.

Guichet

If you plan on spending any money in Montreal you are most certainly going to need a guichet. Guichet is the seemingly adopted term Montrealers use to describe an ATM. Seeing as Canada is Canada, there are about 600 different banks in the city, so do your best to track down a guichet that won’t bite the wallet too hard when it comes to service fees. Obvious avoids are guichets in the metro, in bars, and at large events.

Dep

A great place to find a guichet is a dep. Short for depanneur, a dep is a convenience store. Thanks to Montreal’s lax liquor laws, it’s also a place to stock up on cheap beers before you head out for a night on the town. Deps in Montreal typically stay open until 11, otherwise known as the city wide cut-off for booze, outside of bars which can be open as late as 5:30 a.m. depending what neighbourhood you are in.

BYOW

Another great thing about Montreal is the fact that many, many restaurants are BYOW according to JustFly. This is of course short for bring your own wine. Don’t worry though, If you are more of a beer guy or gal most places won’t give you much grief. This is a great way to save cash on your dinner as dep prices are obviously much better than the price you’ll pay in a restaurant.

Terrace

You love sitting on a patio? Well then, you’ll love sitting on a terrace! The word patio more or less does not exist in Montreal, it’s a terrace city. Head downtown in the Summer and any bar worth its weight will have built a nice terrace extending onto the sidewalk. Be prepared though, once the Summer sun gets out these places get packed pretty quickly.

5 à 7

Last on JustFly’s review is 5 à 7. 5 à 7 is the universal Montreal term for happy hour. While 5 à 7 traditionally runs from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m., bars often extend or move around this window, so make sure you check around before committing to a specific establishment.