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This past weekend in Montreal was cold, gray, wet and windy. Montrealers were largely stuck indoors if they weren't freezing their butts off waiting in line to go shopping at malls, at Christmas markets and praying their kids were getting bored with snow-less winter villages over the weekend. Bleak, right?
Thankfully, the Blog Québecois party of Quebec helped everyone out over weekend with a gem of an announcement:
Avec la campagne «2021 : On touche du bois!», on vous offre nos meilleurs voeux à notre manière afin que l’année qui vient soit meilleure que 2020. Montréal bénéficiera également de la campagne «Bonjour–HO !» qui met de l’avant l’usage du français. Joyeuses Fêtes! @yfblanchet pic.twitter.com/Z7GkakMncm
— Bloc Québécois ⚜️ (@BlocQuebecois) December 13, 2020
In the tweet, the political party suggested that they wished to offer using 'Bonjour-Ho' instead of Montrealers' usual 'Bonjour-Hi' greeting used to find out if a client is an anglophone or francophone as part of its "2021: Knock on wood!" campaign.
Twitter wasn't having any of it.
When they go hi, we go ho. -- #BlocQuébécois 2021https://t.co/EZehsfJmXP
— Nicolas Robidoux (@NicolasRobidoux) December 13, 2020
To think there are 1M anglos in QC + so many bilingual francophones and they did not bother to ask any of them if this was a good idea #bonjourho 🤡
— Mau (@MauValmont) December 14, 2020
Hey! Who you callin’ a Ho?!?! #BonjourHo
— Erica Hebel (@Erica258) December 14, 2020
Yoooooo #Montreal, word on the street is we’re supposed to be calling each other ”hoes” to each others faces in an effort to save the French language...
— Arielle London M.A. (@ariellelondonMA) December 13, 2020
Well I guess we can try it out & see how many people get punched in the face in the process 🤦🏼♀️🤷🏼♀️.#Quebec #Canada #BonjourHo! pic.twitter.com/uPIz8LZLmB
This morning on CJAD 800, former NDP party leader-turned-political analyst Thomas Mulcair could even point out the glaring error: "You can't make this stuff up," he told the host. "The Blog Quebecois is going to be in downtown Montreal today encouraging people with signs to say 'Bonjour-Ho'. There has to be one person in the Bloc Quebecois to tell them, 'no, if a woman walks into the store and the first thing they hear is Bonjour-Ho!, it might not go so well.'"
Montrealers were, for the most part, were having fun with the suggested greeting since the announcement was made over the weekend.
I have an incredibly full day today. But first, I’m going to have another coffee and laugh at “Bonjour-Ho” one more time. Because, the more some people try to argue that it was a good idea, the funnier this gets. #BonjourHo
— Toula Drimonis (@ToulasTake) December 14, 2020
#BonjourHo
— Bernard 🇨🇦 (@WebsterDada) December 14, 2020
Thank you Bloc. No need for SNL to make fun of Québec.
The jokes write themselves.
I love how the Bloc Québécois thinks I haven’t already been greeting my friends Bonjour Ho for years now
— Eve Parker Finley (@eveparkerfinley) December 14, 2020
Who needs bilingualism🤷🏾♂️😂#BonjourHo #cestgino #hogate #quebecois #onlyinquebec pic.twitter.com/TePKdEJTpb
— Dix-Iple Deca (@dixipledeca) December 14, 2020
While Montrealers will likely be using this ironically throughout Christmas—who knows, maybe for years to come—it doesn't mean that they're not confused by the suggestion.
Not even sure what the joke is, but it’s in there somewhere. #emilyinparis #bonjourho pic.twitter.com/mZVZv2tnEb
— Fa-la-la-la-FNoMTL (@FNoMTL) December 13, 2020
Beyond obsessed with Quebec and everything that led to a political party using “Bonjour-Ho” in an official ad. #bonjourho pic.twitter.com/7akZKMRx7E
— Stephanie Mercier Voyer (@smvoyer) December 13, 2020
The campaign—for the uninitiated—comes from Quebec politicians trying to stop the usage of "bonjour-hi" among sales clerks and businesses in general who are accommodating shoppers using both English and French as their first language.
Ultimately, however, it comes down to who has to say it.
As a retail worker, #BonjourHo was needed ✨ pic.twitter.com/1ZYiFj3f3A
— Coco🥥 (@CocoPuffz__) December 14, 2020
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