Un quiz sur l'histoire du Québec

What does “pas mal” mean in Québec French?

Everywhere in French, pas mal can mean “not bad,” and pas mal de means “quite a lot of” (pas mal de monde). In Québec it also works as a free-standing intensifier meaning “quite,” “pretty” or “pretty much”: c’est pas mal beau, “it’s pretty nice,” or c’est pas mal fini, “it’s pretty much done.” The tone is casual and warm, never negative.

Asked which country Canada surrounds, a man in this street quiz shrugs that le Canada, c’est pas mal partout autour de nous autres, “it’s pretty much all around us.” The same answer also has nous autres (“us,” “we”), another very Québec touch. In France you would more likely hear un peu partout or presque partout there. Treat pas mal as a Québec-friendly word you can say without sounding off in France, because context decides the meaning.