Learn some common French slang
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| Michael: What is French slang like? |
| Aurore: And is it commonly used? |
| Michael: At FrenchPod101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Justine Jerome uses a slang expression Ben Lee has never heard before. |
| "I can't be bothered." |
| Justine Jérôme: J'ai la flemme. |
| Dialogue |
| Justine Jérôme: J'ai la flemme. |
| Ben Lee: Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ? |
| Justine Jérôme: Ça veut dire que je n'ai pas envie de faire ça, c'est trop fatigant et ennuyeux. |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| Justine Jérôme: J'ai la flemme. |
| Michael: "I can't be bothered." |
| Ben Lee: Qu'est-ce que ça veut dire ? |
| Michael: "What does that mean?" |
| Justine Jérôme: Ça veut dire que je n'ai pas envie de faire ça, c'est trop fatigant et ennuyeux. |
| Michael: "It means, I don't want to do that, it's too tiring and boring." |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Michael: Slang is an aspect of language that isn't usually taught in the classroom, but it can be important for becoming proficient. Slang is defined as a set of words and expressions that are regarded as very informal. Nevertheless, they can be useful, since they can help someone to better convey feelings and implied concepts. Slang is usually an aspect of the colloquial language, and, for this reason, it changes really quickly or differs from subculture to subculture. In French, "slang" is |
| Aurore: l'argot. |
| Michael: In this lesson, we'll talk about some of the most common French slang words and expressions. |
| [Recall 1] |
| Michael: Let's start with the slang word in the conversation. |
| Do you remember how Justine Jerome says "I can't be bothered?" |
| (pause 4 seconds) |
| Aurore as Justine Jérôme: J'ai la flemme. |
| Michael: This is literally "I have laziness." It is said that this French slang originated from the idea that doctors once thought people who had a lot of "phlegm" or mucus in their bodies lacked zest. Over time, the word evolved and became |
| Aurore: flemme |
| Michael: And so the expression "I have laziness," or |
| Aurore: J'ai la flemme |
| Michael: was born. It's like saying "I lack zest," although, as French slang, it means that you don't feel like doing anything whether or not you have the energy to do it. Thus, you can't be bothered. |
| [Summary] |
| Michael: So far, you've learned that slang is an important aspect of colloquial language. It is often limited to small groups and it can change quickly or become obsolete. Now, let's look at some examples of French slang. Our first example is |
| Aurore: quoi [SLOW] quoi |
| Michael: This is a versatile word that has many uses in French. It literally means "what," but, when placed at the end of a sentence, it functions as a filler word used for emphasis. You can compare it with the outdated English expression "what" that was also used to emphasize a point. When you see a guy that you find interesting, for instance, you can say, |
| Aurore: Ce mec est trop cool, quoi ! |
| Michael: "This guy is too cool, what!" Here's another one: |
| Aurore: la bouffe [SLOW] la bouffe |
| Michael: This is French slang for |
| Aurore: la nourriture |
| Michael: or "food." Its verb form is |
| Aurore: bouffer [SLOW] bouffer |
| Michael: or "to eat." This expression is never used for fine dining, but rather for meals where the focus is the act of eating with other people and not the quality of food. Friends would often say to each other, |
| Aurore: Prenons de la bouffe ! |
| Michael: "Let's grab some food!" Now, our third slang expression is |
| Aurore: les fringues [SLOW] les fringues. |
| Michael: This is slang for |
| Aurore: les vêtements [SLOW] les vêtements |
| Michael: or "clothes." The verb form is |
| Aurore: se fringuer [SLOW] se fringuer |
| Michael: or "to dress," as in |
| Aurore: Tu es bien fringuée aujourd'hui ! |
| Michael: "You are well dressed today!" And, finally, we have the expression |
| Aurore: se casser [SLOW] se casser. |
| Michael: In French, this literally means "to break oneself." In everyday informal speech, however, it refers to the act of leaving, or in English "to hit the road." A less informal version would be |
| Aurore: filer [SLOW] filer |
| Michael: Using this expression implies that you'd like to stay longer, but you need to be somewhere else. Here's an example: |
| Aurore: Déjà 17 heures ? Oulah, je file. Au revoir ! |
| Michael: "Is it 5 pm already? Wow, I have to go. Goodbye!" |
| Expansion/Contrast |
| Michael: We've been talking about spoken French slang, but what about French slang used in social media chat or text messages? Just like in English, there's a lot of slang used in French texting, or |
| Aurore: textos. |
| Michael: The words are usually abbreviated to save character space and time when typing. A very common French text slang would be |
| Aurore: salut |
| Michael: spelled as S-L-T and means "hi." Another one is |
| Aurore: où es-tu |
| Michael: spelled with O-E-T and means "where are you?" And, finally, there's, |
| Aurore: à plus tard |
| Michael: shortened to a capital letter ‘A' followed by a plus sign. |
| Cultural Insight/Expansion |
| Michael: It's common practice in many cultures to form slang words by inverting syllables of existing words. This also exists in French and is referred to as |
| Aurore: verlan. |
| Michael: In fact, the word "verlan" itself is a verlan. It is derived from inverting the syllables in the word |
| Aurore: l'envers, |
| Michael: which means "the reverse." A very common verlan in French is |
| Aurore: cimer, |
| Michael: which is an inversion of the word |
| Aurore: merci |
| Michael: or "Thank you." Another popular verlan is |
| Aurore: zarbi |
| Michael: a contraction of an inversion of the word |
| Aurore: bizarre. |
| Michael: In French slang, the word means "strange" or "weird," such as in |
| Aurore: Trop zarbi, ton idée. |
| Michael: "Your idea is way too strange." |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Aurore: À bientôt ! |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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