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Jack D.A2Kwiziq community member
What is the subtle difference between "ce criminel chanceux" and "ce chanceux criminel"?

There is a Canadian talk-show / competition show, called "100% Local", where four contestants from different regions of Canada tell stories of different people and places unique to their region of Canada.

In season 6, episode 3 of this talk-show (at about 16:25 minutes into the show), one of the contestants is telling the story of a historical criminal named Léo-Rhéal Betrand, who was handsome, charming, and became kind of a criminal celebrity in the eyes of the public. Here's part of what she said (taken from the subtitles) :


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Il est encore arrêté, va encore en cour, remet son habit de Tuxedo Kid, et là, tout le monde capote sur son histoire parce qu'en plus, il est beau, il est charmant, il a tout, dans le fond, pour être une star, c'était une vedette qui a été prise dans le système judiciaire au lieu d'être prise dans le star system. Son histoire va se rendre jusqu'en Cour suprême, et finalement, il va être pendu à la prison de Bordeaux. Et il y a un historien de Gatineau qui s'appelle Raymond Ouimet, qui a écrit un livre à propos de Léo-Rhéal Bertrand, qui est sorti il y a quelques mois seulement. Et ce livre-là raconte toute l'histoire fascinante de ce criminel chanceux ou de ce chanceux criminel.

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Questions:

1. What is the subtle difference between "criminel chanceux" and "chanceux criminel"?


2. Why does this contestant say both? That is, is it a subtle joke? Is it to sound playful? Is it a pun? Is there some implied content or attitude that is achieved by using this? etc


Asked 1 year ago

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