They didn't explain the etymology. En panne means broken, not functioning. Dépanner means to remove something from that state, to fix it. A dépanneur is therefore a person or thing that fixes stuff, gets you out of trouble.
And penne gets that meaning because en penne used to mean ‘be stuck, not able to move on’
This phrase existed because the penne was a wood affixed to the mast of sailboat that allowed you to move the sail such that the boat slowed down and stopped.
That thing was called the penne because it looked like a pen (the writing instrument)
An online translation tool managed: "out of order" for "en panne". Your translation is far better because it gives the actual, raw and intended (by a local), meaning and not re-translated that meaning into a trite phrase on the destination side.
"Out of order" is something you see on a broken machine and not something to do with a shop!
One day, the AI kiddies will manage to work out how to stuff "Idia" into their wanky offerings. Until then, I'd rather read comments like yours.
It is from the word "dépanner", not from the word "panne" directly. "Dépanner" evolved from "panne" to mean just in general, helping someone out temporarily.
A tool that would dépanne you would be a tool that would do the job poorly but well enough for now. This is how the name is meant to be understood, a small store where you can buy like eggs, beer, milk, bread (it's a convenience store), maybe batteries, but not a full grocery store or pharmacy or tool place.
Deps are kind of like seven 11. We have a large chain of deps in Quebec called Couche-Tard, but there are tons of no name independent deps, especially in Montreal. You'll often find that many of these mom and pop deps are located on the ground floor of multi-story houses in lower income residential areas, with the owners living in the upper floors.
Most of the sales in deps are cigarettes, beer, soda and snacks. Deps generally appeal to younger people and the working class.
It's the same story with Swedish 7-11s: pleasant atmosphere, tidy, nontoxic pastries, employees who still have a will to live. It is disorienting for anyone accustomed to the American version.
I clicked on the link in my RSS feed and expected to see something about cars breaking down in France & Wallonia. In the US people say 'call AAA', and while working in Wallonia it was 'appelle le dépanneur', i.e. the person that gets you going. 'En panne' means 'broken down', and 'le dépanneur' would get you going again.
I wonder if the stores originally were 'dépanneurs', as the original meaning, having started a side business next to their car fixing? Like how 7-11 started from an ice house in Dallas.
Or is it a play on 'helping you to get going again'?
Nothing unique about deps. NYC has bodegas, UK has Spars, US has 7/11. Wherever you can still go to buy cigarettes/vapes, beer, sweets, sugary drinks and porn mags, that's a dep.
It has long since lost its etymological purpose. Deps are entirely unhealthy waste of spaces now that grocery stores are omnipresent.
The main innovation of Spätis is the tables outside. You can buy a cold beer for €2 and drink it with friends right outside, or go for a walk with it. The road beer (Wegbier) is a staple of long walks in good company.
Yes, a dep is no different than a corner store with a beer/wine section, but 'dep' is an interesting regional word that is neither used in France nor westward of Quebec.
I recently learned from this web site that "all dressed" pizza is only used by the English population in Quebec to refer to a mushrooms, green pepper, pepperoni pizza The Quebec French use "tout garnie" which a direct translation. I wonder which was first.
Aren't these delis? At least when I used to live in Brooklyn we used to call them that. Often they had signs "Deli and Grocery" or something like that.
Milkbar in Australia because they used to sell milkshakes and the convenience store aspect was secondary. Over time the convenience store part took over but the name stuck.
"tabac" feels too restrictive, "Épicerie" feels more like selling fruits/vegetables, "commerce de proximité" feels like it could include things like a supermarket too.
I can think of more unsavory/xenophobic/slang terms for it, but droguerie seems more appropriate.
And on the other end for someone who never been to Québec, "Je vais au dépanneur" sounds like "I'm going to the mechanics (to fix my car)". Very creative.
Le mot dépanneur peut désigner :
[…]
au Québec, une petite épicerie de proximité ou une supérette.
en Suisse romande, une petite épicerie ouverte les soirs ou les week-ends.
[…]
God forbid the language evolves independently in two regions separated by an ocean.
I find it funny that in France it’s more common to see anglicisms (parking, le weekend) whereas in Quebec more “francized” terms are more common (stationnement, fin de semaine). And then Francois Legault goes and in a speech praising the work of the French language watchdog says “faut faire la job”. Facepalm!
Dépanneuse == Tow truck
Il m'a dépanné en me prêtant vingt dollars. == He lent me $20 to help me out.
Ah la belle langue!
Dépanneur as convenience store could be a Quebec thing.
This phrase existed because the penne was a wood affixed to the mast of sailboat that allowed you to move the sail such that the boat slowed down and stopped.
That thing was called the penne because it looked like a pen (the writing instrument)
"Out of order" is something you see on a broken machine and not something to do with a shop!
One day, the AI kiddies will manage to work out how to stuff "Idia" into their wanky offerings. Until then, I'd rather read comments like yours.
Merci.
A tool that would dépanne you would be a tool that would do the job poorly but well enough for now. This is how the name is meant to be understood, a small store where you can buy like eggs, beer, milk, bread (it's a convenience store), maybe batteries, but not a full grocery store or pharmacy or tool place.
Most of the sales in deps are cigarettes, beer, soda and snacks. Deps generally appeal to younger people and the working class.
Most people had a dep number on a fridge magnet back in the day.
Dépanneurs are still very much a thing here, but like most good things, endangered by suffocating industry capture by oligopolies.
Doing my part by doing my late-night party beer runs at my corner dep.
https://urbananews.ca/quebecs-corner-stores-vanish-as-locals...
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/business/economics/2025/07/06/qu...
I wonder if the stores originally were 'dépanneurs', as the original meaning, having started a side business next to their car fixing? Like how 7-11 started from an ice house in Dallas.
Or is it a play on 'helping you to get going again'?
It has long since lost its etymological purpose. Deps are entirely unhealthy waste of spaces now that grocery stores are omnipresent.
A dep sounds like the subject of "Open all hours". Nurse Gladys would approve!
https://allaboutberlin.com/glossary/Sp%C3%A4ti
The main innovation of Spätis is the tables outside. You can buy a cold beer for €2 and drink it with friends right outside, or go for a walk with it. The road beer (Wegbier) is a staple of long walks in good company.
Great for pre-drinks though
One dep takes the space of one apartment, and it helps the thousands of residents around it to not have to walk 15min to get milk.
Seems like a fair trade to me.
Before Amazon existed there was a thing called "Librairies" too.
Why not use the standard French word for it "droguerie"? Dépanneur or Couche-tard does have a lot more charm to it though, agreed.
I can think of more unsavory/xenophobic/slang terms for it, but droguerie seems more appropriate.
And on the other end for someone who never been to Québec, "Je vais au dépanneur" sounds like "I'm going to the mechanics (to fix my car)". Very creative.
I'm also curious how a convenience store is called in other francophone areas of the world.
For example https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/D%C3%A9panneur says:
It points to https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magasin_de_proximit%C3%A9 and https://fr.wiktionary.org/wiki/d%C3%A9panneur where again one finds mentions to epicerie (and none to droguerie).I find it funny that in France it’s more common to see anglicisms (parking, le weekend) whereas in Quebec more “francized” terms are more common (stationnement, fin de semaine). And then Francois Legault goes and in a speech praising the work of the French language watchdog says “faut faire la job”. Facepalm!
Because Quebec culture is largely about demonizing anglophones and trying to push them out of the province.
But that’s not the reality nor majority of people who want that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bodega_(store)
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