What exactly is French slang? Just like English slang, French slang is made up of the words people use and the way they use them in everyday conversation. You will not find slang used in the news or in literature, unless it is used to show how someone speaks. For example, you would not read this sentence in the newspaper, “The dude bailed outta his car and bolted.” It would read, “The man jumped out of his vehicle and ran.” You would also not use the first sentence in a formal setting like at work or school. So why should you know French slang?It is important to understand slang because it’s a part of popular culture. If you want to be able to understand the French you hear in music and movies, or the French you read on social media, you will need to understand the slang. Here you will find an introduction to French slang including the way people speak, the words and sounds they use, and a secret French slang dialect.

Introduction to French Slang

Shortened words and phrases

In almost any language, the way people write is different than the way they speak. In English, for example, we may say, “I’m gonna”, but we would not write it that way. The same thing applies to French. Simple everyday phrases like, Je ne sais pas ( I do not know) end up sounding like, “chay pas”. Je suis ends up sounding like, “chuis” and tu as becomes “t’as”. Another way they shorten things up in conversation is to drop the ne in ne...pas. So while you will need to write it this way, Je n’aime pas, you would say, j’aime pas. All of this can be tricky for a beginner, so I encourage beginners to learn proper French first in order to avoid making writing mistakes later on. It is far easier to relax your efforts than to tighten them up after learning something wrong.

Classic slang words

Slang goes beyond shortening words and phrases. There are also specific words that are slang, called l’argot in French. Here is a list of some classic French slang words.un mec = a guyune meuf = a chickune bagnole = a carla bouffe = foodbouffer = to eatla gueule* = faceun/une pote = a buddyun chouïa = a little bitavoir la gueule de bois = to be hung overen avoir marre = to be fed up faire une gaffe = make a mistakebourré = drunkbête = stupidmon oeil = my foot*the word gueule actually means animal mouth and it is used in both insults and everyday slang.

New slang words

There are also many words from other languages that have found their way into French slang. Most of these words originated in African countries of which more than 20 speak French. Some of these words are:kiffer = to likeZarma! = No way!C’est kif-kif = It’s similarune casbah = a houseIl est maboul! = It’s crazy!une smala = a familyC’est pas bezef = It’s not a lotfaire fissa = to hurry

French sounds

You may be surprised to know that cats do not say le meow in French. French cats actually say, miaou. The words used to express sounds in French often differ from the words used to express the same sounds in English. Take a look at these examples.beurk = yukmiam = yumPan! Pan! = Bang! Bang!chut = shhhhaïe = ouchouf = whew, phew

Verlan

Another form of French slang is called verlan. Verlan is created by reversing the syllables of a word. In fact, the word verlan in an example of verlan. The French word for backward is l’envers. When you take the syllables, l’en and vers and switched them to vers and l’en (and then changed the spelling to make it sounds right, because - French) you get verlan. Take a look at that list of words in the first list. Do you see a word that could be verlan? I will give you a hint - it means une femme.Verlan has been around since the 1940s. It was first used after WWII by people outside the mainstream of society as sort of a secret way of talking. You can take a look at this short video if you want to hear how it sounds. Here is a list of some verlan that you can practice! beur = arabe meuf = femmekeum = meckeuf = flic (cop)ouf = fouchanmé = méchantgen-ar = argent,teubé = bête,renoi = noir,zar-bi (zarb’) = bizarrezyva = vas-y

A word of caution

Slang can make you sound cool and it can also make you sound bête. You want to be sure that it sounds natural when you use it and not forced. In order to do this, it is a good idea to wait to use it until it really feels natural. When you use slang in your mother language, it is just something that happens. No one makes an intentional effort to say dude, for example, it just naturally rolls off the tongue. Make sure that the slang you use in French comes across that same way.