Informal French & Slang Tutorial

Note: Before heading to the tutorial I would Strictly recommend to download any online dictionary which could easily translate the difficult French words provided below so that you can understand them easily and learn quickly, if you have one so that’s good if not then I’ll personally prefer BabelFish dictionary which is free so you don’t need to buy it. The download link is provided below:

Download BabelFish Translator

This page is designed to teach the real spoken form of French, which is very different from the formal way of writing, as well as common French slang words.

Informal Ways of Speaking

Similar to the reduced forms in English (wanna, gonna, doncha, etc.), there are several informal ways of speaking in French. You will hear these forms very often, but you do not have to speak this way if you don't want to. However, you must be able to understand reduced forms in order to understand real spoken French. You may see these forms in informal written French (such as on blogs or in chat rooms), but you should still write the formal way.

1. Tu + verb beginning with a vowel

The most common contractions with tu are t'as and t'es, which replace tu as and tu es. You can also contract tu + other verbs that begin with a vowel, such as t'aimes or t'ouvres, which replace tu aimes and tu ouvres.

T'as fini de manger ? Have you finished eating?T'es fatigué ou quoi ? Are you tired or what?T'as beau essayer, t'y arrives pas. No matter how much you try, you won't succeed.T'as rien compris ! Laisse-moi t'expliquer. You didn't understand! Let me explain it to you.

2. Unstressed e

The letter e is often dropped between two consonants (e caduc) if it is unstressed, such as in samedi, and also at the end of short words, such as ce, de, je, le, me, que, se, te. It's also common in future and conditional tenses of verbs: donnerai = donn'rai; aimerais = aim'rais

Il s'lève de bonne heure. He gets up early.C'est c'que je veux. That's what I want.Faut que j'parte maintenant. I have to leave now.Avec ce travail, je ne manqu'rai pas d'argent. With this job, I won't lack money.

3. Reduced forms: il(s), elle(s), puis, parce que, quelque

The pronouns il and ils reduce to y, while elle and elles reduce to è when followed by a consonant. When followed by a vowel, il and elle reduce to l' whereas ils becomes y z' or just z' and elles becomes è'z'. The word puis is more commonly pronounced pis, parce que is pronounced pasque, and quelque is pronounced quèque.

Y pense qu'elle l'aime, mais c'est pas le cas. He thinks that she loves him, but that's not the case.On va aller au restaurant, et pis après on se fera un ciné. We'll go to the restaurant, and then after we'll go to the movies.Pourquoi tu dois m'obéir ? Pasque je suis ton père ! Why must you obey me? Because I'm your father!Y a quèque chose la-dessous ! Regarde voir ! There's something down there! Look!

4. Use on instead of nous

The pronoun on is used much more often to mean we than nous. It always take the third person singular form of the verb even though it's always plural in English.

On peut y aller ? Tout le monde est là ? Can we go ? Is everybody here ?C'est pasqu'on est frères que je te fais confiance. It's because we are brothers that I trust you.Pourrait-on accélérer ? On va pas assez vite ! Could we speed it up? We're not going fast enough!

5. Drop ne in negatives

Although the ne in negatives should always be written, it is very rarely used in informal speech.

Ça va pas ! C'est nul ! That doesn't work! That's stupid!Si tu veux pas voir ce film, lequel veux-tu voir ? If you don't want to see this movie, which one do you want to see?Je peux pas m'acheter cette voiture. C'est pas possible. I can't buy myself this car. It's not possible.

6. Drop -re at end of words

You usually do not pronounce -re at the end of a word, whether it's a verb (mettre) or adjective (notre).

Allez, à bientôt ! A un de ces quat' ! See you soon one of these days! C'est pas vot' problème, c'est not' problème. It's not your problem, it's our problem.Y faut pas êt' si bête. You shouldn't be so stupid.

7. Word order in questions

Word order in questions is less difficult to master in informal spoken French. Inversion and est-ce que are generally not used, and word order is simply subject - verb - question word OR question word - subject - verb.

Tu fais quoi ? What are you doing?On va où ? Where are we going?Il parle de quoi ? What's he talking about?

Pourquoi t'as dit ça ? Why did you say that?Quand elle va arriver ? When is she going to arrive?Quelle heure il est ? What time is it?

In addition, ça frequently follows an interrogative to add emphasis, such as in qui ça ? or c'est quoi, ça ?

8. Forget grammatical rules

Sometimes you can forget the grammar rules that you have learned when speaking informally. An example of this is using à to show possession (in grammatically correct French, you should use de).

On est dans la chambre à Cyril. We are in Cyril's room.

Another example is using (r)amener to mean to bring things (back) to some place. In grammatically correct French, you should only use (r)amener with people, and (r)apporter with things.

J'ai ramené les livres à la médiathèque. I brought the books back to the library.

Fillers in Speech

Fillers in speech are words that don't add any real meaning to the sentence, except for maybe emphasis. Examples in English include uh, um, well, I mean, I guess, you know?, so, ok, etc. You should get used to just ignoring these words when you hear them, so that you can focus on the key words in the sentence.

1. Quoi is the most common filler that I hear in everyday speech. It can be used to add emphasis to emotions or thoughts or to show impatience. It is usually said at the very end of the sentence.

2. Voilà is often used with quoi at the end of the sentence.3. A la limite is mostly used by young people, and can be translated as I suppose or

I mean.4. Tu vois ? is the closest approximation for you know?5. Bon begins or ends a thought, similar to ok. It also can express anger or

impatience, similar to fine! (Ah, bon ? actually means "really?" and not "good.")6. Ben (pronounced liked bain) adds emphasis to questions, statements, commands

and yes or no. 7. Bon ben is used to wrap up a thought or conversation. Translated as ok or well.8. Donc emphasizes a question or command.9. Alors emphasizes an interjection and yes or no.10. Moi is commonly added to commands involving the senses. The closest

translation in English is "just." Regarde-moi-ça ! Just look at that!11. Eh bien means well... at the beginning of a sentence or thought.12. Hein ? is similar to eh? at the end of a sentence.

Interjections

Aïe ! / Ouïe ! / Ouille ! Ouch !Beurk ! Berk ! Yuck!Boum ! Boom! Bang!Chiche ! I dare you! Go ahead!Chut ! Shush! Be quiet!Gla gla! Brrrrrrr! Ho ! / Hé ! Wow! or Hey!Holà ! Hey! Whoa!Hop là ! Got it! There ya go! Whoopsie-daisy! Merde ! Shit! [not as strong as in English] / Break a leg! Miam miam ! Yum yum!Mince ! / Zut ! Darn! Dang it!Ouf ! Phew!Oups ! Oops!Pan ! Bang!Putain ! [the general all-purpose swear word in French] Toc, toc ! Knock knock!

Vlan ! Slam!Youpi ! Yay!

Recognizing French Slang Words

Several suffixes are commonly used to form slang words from regular words. This may help you determine the meaning of the slang word, which you probably cannot find in a dictionary, by identifying the root word, which you can find in a dictionary. For example, folle is a regular adjective meaning crazy. Follasse is the slang word derived from the adjective that means crazy woman.

- aille (r) - ard - arès - asse - ace - oche- os - osse - ouille - ouse - ouze - uche

Common Expressions

Je n'en reviens pas - I can't believe itC'est du gâteau ! - It's a piece of cake!Revenons à nos moutons - Let's get back to the subjectÇa saute aux yeux - That's obviousC'est dans la poche - It's a sure thingQuand les poules auront des dents - When pigs flyÇa ne tourne pas rond - Something's wrongC'est pas vrai ! - You're kidding!Ce n'est pas la mer à boire - It's not the end of the worldC'est pas sorcier - It's not rocket scienceJe vais jeter un œil - I'll take a lookÇa n'a rien à voir avec... - That has nothing to do with...Ça vaut le coup - It's worth itOn voit que dalle - You can't see anythingÇa va être chaud ! It's going to be tough!Tu dois me tirer de là ! - You gotta help me out!Ç'est parti ! Here we go / we're off !Ça gaze ? How are things? What's up?Oh purée ! Oh my goodness!Ça fait un bail ! It's been a long time !Ça craint ! / C'est nul ! - That sucks!Fais voir - Show me / Let me seeJe suis prems ! - I'm first!Rien que d’en parler... - Just talking about it...

Common Verbs

balancer - to throw (away)en baver - to have a hard timebosser - to workbouffer - to eatbourrer - to stuff, crambousiller - to break, damagechialer - to crychopper - to get, to catchdébarquer - to arrive without noticedégoter - to find, come up with, dig upencarrer - to enterengueuler - to yellépater / scier - to astonish, surpriseêtre à deux doigts (de faire quelque chose) - to be on the verge (of doing something)être à la bourre - to be in a hurry être à mourir d'ennui - to be very boringfaire gaffe - be careful, pay attentionfarfouiller - to rummagefiler - to give, hand overfiler à l'anglaise - to leave without saying goodbye / to take a French leaveflipper - to go crazy, flip outfourrer - to cram, stick, shovefoutre - to put, throw / to give / to dofoutre le bordel - to make a messgaver - to be sick ofgerber - to pukegober - to believe naively / to fall for gonfler - to annoylouper - to missmater / zieuter - to lookpapoter - to chatter, gossip paumer - to losepiger - to understandpiquer - to stealplanquer - to hidepoireauter - to waitrepêcher - to findrigoler / se marrer - to laughroupiller - to sleep schlinguer - to stink se planter - to make a mistakese pointer / radiner - to show upse tirer / se barrer / se casser - to leavevadrouiller - to rove around

The verb foutre

This slang verb has several meanings in French: to put, to give, to do, etc. It is conjugated thus: fous - fous - fout - foutons - foutez - foutent. The pronominal verb s'en foutre means to not care, while the adjective foutu(e) usually means screwed/screwed up. Fiche is a milder verb that is very common too. It is conjugated: fiche - fiches - fiche - fichons - fichez - fichent and the past participle is fichu(e).

Je m'en fous / Je m'en fiche. I don't care.

Qu'est-ce qu'il fout là-bas ? What's he doing over there? / What the hell is he doing over there??

Je n'en ai rien à foutre. I don't care. [stronger] / I don't give a damn.

Je m'en fous de tes problèmes. I don't care about your problems.Tu t'en fous de ce que les autres pensent. You don't care about what others think.On s'en fout de foot ! We don't care about soccer!Ils s'en foutent des jeunes. They don't care about young people.

Fous-moi la paix ! Leave me alone! / Give me a break!Fous le camp ! F you!Va te faire foutre ! Go to hell!

The adjective foutu does not always have a negative connotation, however:un mec bien foutu a well-built/muscular guy

Common Adjectives

bidon - phoney, fakechapeau - bravo, hats off!chelou - shady, suspiciouschiant - annoyingcollant - clingycradingue / crado - filthydébile - pathetic, stupiddégueulasse - disgustingdéjanté - oddball dingue / cinglé / timbré / givré / barjo - crazyfarfelu - eccentricfuté - cunning, crafty, sly génial / chouette - great

godiche - silly, awkwardgratos - freeimpec - great, terrificmal barré / mal foutu - "in dire straits" / screwedmarrant / rigolo - funnymoche - uglynickel - very cleanpas terrible - not goodradin - cheaproublard - devious, cunningsalé - expensivesympa - nice, likablevache - mean

Common Intensifiers / Adverbs

carrément - completelyrudement - very, terriblypas mal de / un paquet de - a lot of super / mega / hyper - very, ultravachement - very, really foutrement - extremely

Oh la vache ! - Oh wow!

espèce de + adjectif - stupid + adjectiveadjectif + de chez + adjectif - really, completely + adjective→ Ce livre est nul de chez nul. This book majorly sucks. nom + de malheur - darned + nounnom + d'enfer - really good + noun

Verlan

Verlan is a popular form of slang that involves reversing the syllables in regular words.

mère - reumpère - reupfemme - meufmec - keumfête - teufflic - keuflouche - chelou

cher - reuchénervé - vénère boudin - doubincapote - potecatoi - ouatmoi - ouam

Health & Body

babines (f) - lipsbarbouze (f) - beardbide / bidon (m) - belly→ Mon chat a un bide énorme ! My cat has a huge belly! caillou / ciboulot (m) - headcarcasse (f) - bodycouille / roubignole (f) - testicleesgourdes (f) - earsgueule (f) / bec (m) - mouth→ Ferme ta gueule ! Shut up! jambons / gigots (m) - thighsmirettes (f) - eyesnichons (m) - breastspalpitant / battant (m) - heartpaluche / pince (f) - handpanard / ripaton (m) - footpatte / gambette / guibole / quille (f) - legpif / blair (m) - noseriquiqui (m) - pinkie fingertifs (m) - hairtignasse (f) - mop of hair→ J’ai une tignasse frisée qui m’arrive en bas du dos. I have curly hair that goes all the way down my back. tronche (f) - face, head

se casser la gueule - to break one's neckpasser sur le billard - to have an operation avoir la pêche / la patate - to be on top of the world, to feel goodavoir mal au cœur - to feel nauseated / to feel like vomitinggerber / dégueuler - to pukecrever / clamser - to die (figuratively), to "croak"avoir mauvaise / bonne mine - to look bad / goodêtre maigre comme un clou - to be really skinnyattraper la crève - to catch a terrible cold tomber dans les pommes / les vapes - to pass out

requinquer - to perk upse débarbouiller - to wash your face à l'article de la mort - at death's door bien roulée - good bodymal fichu - sickl'hosto [l'hôpital] - hospital

Emotions & Personalities

crevé / lessivé / nase / mort / cassé / vanné / HS [hors-service] - really tired, exhaustedavoir le cafard / le blues / le spleen - to be sad, depressedêtre de mauvais poil - to be in a bad mooden avoir marre / en avoir ras-le-bol / en avoir soupé - to be fed up, angry→ J'en ai marre de ces pubs ! I'm so sick of these ads!avoir les boules / les glandes / les nerfs / la haine - to be really angryraffoler de quelque chose - to be crazy about somethingêtre accro à quelque chose - to be addicted to something avoir le mal du pays - to be homesickse barber - to get boredavoir la trouille / la frousse - to be scaredfiche la trouille / frousse à quelqu'un - to scare somebody→ C'est la première fois qu'une BD me fiche la frousse. That's the first time a comic book scared me.déconner - to joke/mess aroundse planter - to make a mistake / to fallpéter les plombs / péter un cable - to go crazyperdre la boule / les pédales - to lose one's mind

s'engueuler / bagarrer - to fight, yellrififi (m) / bagarre (f) - fight raclée / saucée / trempe (f) - scoldingfiler une baffe / une claque / une beigne à quelqu'un - to slap someonecoller un pain / une mandale / une chataigne / un marron à quelqu'un - to punch someonecoquard (m) - black eye furax - furious, angryblairer quelqu'un - to not be able to stand someonene pas sentir quelqu'un - to not like, not be able to stand someonecasser les pieds à quelqu'un / prendre la tête à quelqu'un - to annoy someoneêtre casse-bonbons / casse-pieds / casse-couilles - to be a pain in the neck/asscafter quelqu'un - to tell on someone, to snitch faire du pétard - to make a fuss→ Il fait du pétard quand les choses ne vont pas comme il veut. He makes a fuss when things aren't how he wants them to be.

rouscailler - to complain gonfler quelqu'un / emmerder quelqu'un - to get on someone's nerves, be a painfaire chier quelqu'un - to really annoy someone, to piss someone off→ Ça me fait chier de refaire une année, puis encore deux années en BTS. That pisses me off to repeat a grade, and then still have two more years of BTS.monter sur ses grands chevaux - to get angryse mettre en pétard - to get crabby, angry se faire de la bile - to get all worked upen faire toute une salade - to make a big deal about ittaper sur les nerfs à quelqu'un - to get on someone's nerveschambrer / taquiner - to tease, bother someoneTu te fous de ma gueule ? - Are you kidding me? / Do you think I'm an idiot?Tu me prends pour qui ? - Who do you think you're dealing with? / Do you think I'm stupid?Lâche-moi les baskets ! - Give me a break! Leave me alone!Ce sont pas tes oignons ! / T'occupe ! - Mind your own business!Laisse béton ! - Nevermind! Forget it!Ta gueule ! / La ferme ! - Shut up!

avoir la cosse / flemme - to be lazyavoir un poil dans la main - to be really lazyavoir la bougeotte - to be fidgetyflemmard / feignant - lazyglander / glandouiller - to waste time, to bum around→ Il glande tous les jours chez lui. He does nothing all day at home.se pavaner - to strut about, show off frimer - to show offfrimeur (m) - showoff→ C'est un mec qui a l'air sympathique ; c'est pas un frimeur à ce que je sache ! He seems like a nice guy; he's not a showoff as far as I know!lèche-bottes (f) - suckup, brown-noserraté (m) - loserdébile / taré - stupid, idiotic con (m) / conne (f) - idiot → "Casse-toi, pauvre con !" Get lost, stupid idiot! - quote from French president, Nicolas Sarkozy quiche (f) - stupid person bête noire (f) - pet peevegalère (f) - problem, difficulty

donner un coup de main - to give someone a hand / to help someonedépanner quelqu'un - to do someone a favorretirer une épine du pied à quelqu'un - to do someone a big favor

pot (m) - luck / drinkbol (m) - luck

→ J'ai vachement de bol, j'ai pas de gosses et j'ai une voiture. I'm really lucky, I don't have kids and I have a car. guigne / déveine / poisse (f) - bad luckguignard(e)(m/f) - unlucky personavoir de la veine - to be luckybranché - with it, hip, cool peinard / pénard - calm, tranquil → Cette année, c'est pénard, mais l'année prochaine, le bac ! This year is calm, but next year is the bac [final exam]!zen - cool, calm, laid-back

School

bahut (m) - school (also truck, taxi)→ Mon bahut est en grève ! My school is on strike!bizut (m) - freshman / pledge (to a fraternity/sorority)bizutage (m) - hazingbouquin (m) - bookbûcher / potasser - to study hard, to cramcalé en - good/smart incartonner à un examen - to ace an examchouchou (m) - teacher's petcolle (f) - difficult questioncoller un élève - to punish a student / give a student detention→ Mon fils est collé deux heures par son prof de math. My son got two hours of detention from his math teacher.être collé - to have detentionfac (f) - universitypiger - to understand, to get (it)plancher - to be grilled/interrogated by a teacherpotache (m) - studentse faire étendre / coller à un examen - to flunk a testsécher un cours - to skip class

Weather & Time

cailler - to freezecramer - to burnflotter - to rainflotte (f) - waterfroid de canard - really cold weathertemps de chien - lousy weather

tomber des cordes - to rain heavily, to pouril pleut comme vache qui pisse - it's pouring / it's really coming downsaucée (f) - shower se peler les miches - to freeze one's ass off → Je suis frileuse et je me pèle les miches été comme hiver. I'm always cold and I freeze my ass off in summer like in winter.

entre chien et loup - at dusk, sunsetil y a des lustres - a long time agopige (f) - yearun de ces quat' - one of these days

Talking & Chatting

avoir de la tchatche - to talk a lotavoir un mot sur le bout de la langue - to have a word on the tip of your tonguebaratin (m) - nonsensebaratiner - to sweet talkbavarder / causer - to chat→ Elle aime causer et tout le monde la connaît. She likes to chat and everyone knows her.blaze (m) - namecasser les oreilles à quelqu'un - to talk someone's ear offchanter comme une casserole - to sing really badly charabia (m) - gibberishcharrier - to exaggeratedégoiser - to talk a lot, rattle ondéjanter - to talk nonsense, to go crazydonner un coup de fil - to call, telephoneet patati et patata - blah blah blahjacter - to speak, chatterparler une langue comme une vache espagnole - to speak a language really badlypasser du coq à l'âne - to quickly change the subjectquand on parle du loup - speak of the devilragots - rumors, gossip, the "dirt"→ Si quelqu'un dit des ragots sur moi, alors je m'en fous. If someone spreads rumors about me, I don't care.rouspéter - to complain, moantchatcher - to chattuyau (m) / astuce (f) - tip, piece of advice

Eating & Drinking

avoir la dalle - to be starving→ J'ai la dalle et je sais pas quoi faire à manger. I'm starving and I don't know what to make to eat.avoir la gueule de bois - to have a hangover avoir les crocs - to be very hungryavoir un petit creux - to be a little hungryarroser - to drink to celebrate something barbaque / bidoche (f) - bad meatBerk ! - Yuck!blonde (f) - aleboire un verre / un coup / un pot - to have a drinkbouffe / boustifaille (f) - foodbouffer - to eatboui-boui (m) - dive, bad restaurantbourré / pété / rond / saoul / défoncé / plein - drunkça fouette - that stinks (said of cheese)casser la croûte - to have a snack → On a cassé la croûte avec une vue magnifique depuis le nord au sud du Mont-Blanc. We had a snack with a magnificent view from the north to south of Mont Blanc.chaud - tipsy, buzzedchopine (f) - bottle of wine dégueulasse - disgustinggavé - stuffed (ate too much)se goinfrer / s'empiffrer / se taper - to pig out gueuleton (m) - feast, huge spread of foodMiam ! - Yum!péter - to fart (also: to burst, blow up, snap) picole (f) - alcohol, boozepicoler - to drink alcoholpicoleur, picoleuse - drinkerpinard (m) - cheap winepochtron / poivrot (m) - drunkardprendre une cuite - to get wasted/plastered pression (f) - draft beerrégaler - to treat, pay repu - full (of food)roter - to burp tituber - to stumble (drunkenly)→ Il titubait et hurlait dans les couloirs, complètement bourré. He was stumbling and yelling in the hall, completely drunk.tournée (f) - round of drinkstrinquer - to toast, to drink to [this can also mean to be devastated, to suffer: Dans un divorce, ce sont toujours les enfants qui trinquent. In a divorce, it's always the children who suffer.]

People & Animals

beauf (m) - brother-in-law / lower-class Frenchmanbelle-doche (f) - mother-in-lawcanaille (f) - rascal, scoundrel copain / copine (m/f) - friend, palfiston (m) - sonfrangin (m) - brotherfrangine (f) - sistergamin/e (m/f) - kid, bratgars (m) - boygosse (m/f) - kid [be careful: this means testicles in Quebecois French!]loulou / loulotte - boyfriend / girlfriendmec / keum / type (m) - guymeuf [Verlan for femme] - wifemôme (m/f) - kid, bratmoutards / lardons / marmots / morveux (m) - kidsnana / gonzesse (f) - girl, chickpote (m) - buddy, materacaille (f) - scum reum [Verlan for mère] - motherreup [Verlan for père] - fatherricain(e) - American vieux (m) - parentsvoyou / gouape - punk, hooligan

clébard (m) - mutt, houndpiaf (m) - bird

Places & Transportation

piaule / crèche (f) - bedroompieu / plumard / pageot (m) - bedcrècher - to crash, to livepioncer / roupiller - to sleeptruc / machin (m) - a thing, thingamajigbordel (m) / bazar (m) / galère (f) - mess→ C'est quoi ce bordel ? What is all this mess? bagnole / caisse (f) - carbaraque (f) - shed, stand, housebled perdu (m) - nowheresville, in the boonies → Je viens du fin fond de la Bretagne dans un bled perdu où il n'y a rien à faire. I come from the boonies at the far end of Brittany, where there's nothing to do.coin (m) - place in general

se taper 10 bornes à pied - to walk 10 kilometersborne (f) - kilometer

Work & Money

arnaquer - to rip off, cheatarnaqueur (m) - con artistballe (f) - franc (many French people still think in francs instead of euros)BCBG [bon chic bon genre] - posh, stylish, preppybo-bo [Bourgeois Bohême] - person with good job and Bohemian lifestyleboîte (f) - companybosser - to workboulot (m) - work, jobbourge (n) - bourgeois, middle classclaquer - to blow moneyclodo / clochard (m) - bum, homeless persondouloureuse (f) - bill (that you know is going to be high)École de comptabilité - accounting schoolêtre plein aux as - to have a lot of moneyfric / pognon / blé / des sous / pèze / l'oseille (m) - moneyfauché / à sec / raide / dans la dèche - broke faux jeton (m) - two-sided, hypocritical (politician)flic / keuf / poulet (m) - copgrippe-sou (f) - penny pinchergyneco [gynécologue] - gynecologistkiné [kinésithérapeute] - physiotherapistmettre au clou - to hock, pawnprolo (m) - working classproprio [propriétaire] - landlord, landladypsy [psychologue] - psychologistradin - cheapreuch - expensiverichard (m) - very wealthy manrmiste (m) - someone who earns the jobseeker's allowance (RMI)salé - expensive (a bill)se faire arnaquer - to get ripped offsmicard (m) - someone who earns minimum wage (SMIC)thune (f) - money / cointoubib (m) - doctorturbin (m) - job, daily grind

Ça coûte la peau des fesses ! / Ça douille ! - That's really expensive!

Love & Dating

avoir le béguin pour quelqu'un / craquer pour quelqu'un / en pincer pour quelqu'un - to have a crush on someoneavoir le coup de foudre - to be in love at first sightbrancher quelqu'un - to try to seduce someonebombe (f) - attractive womanboudin / thon / pou (m) - ugly person [these are mean words!]canon (m) - hot, very attractive personcapote (f) / chapeau / gant (m) - condomchoper / emballer / embarquer quelqu'un - to succesfully seduce / pick up someonedraguer / flirter - to flirten cloque - pregnant / "knocked up"se faire jeter / se prendre une veste - to get denied, turned downgars / mec / type / bonhomme / keum - guy, mankiffer - to like lové - cuddly, snugglylarguer / plaquer - to leave, dump (a person) mater quelqu'un - to check out (someone)moche - uglynana / nénette / minette / gonzesse / meuf - woman, girl, chickse remettre de quelqu'un - to get over someonerencard (m) - daterouler un patin / une pelle à quelqu'un - to French kiss someoneposer un lapin à quelqu'un - to stand someone up (for a date)tripoter / peloter - to grope, fondle

Fashion & Shopping

baskets (m) - tennis shoes / sneakersbermuda (m) - knee-length shortsbody (m) - bodysuit/onesie for a babycostard (m) - suitfringues (f) - clothingfutal (m) - pantsgodasse (f) - shoejogging / survêt / training (m) - jogging suitpébroc / pépin / chamberlain (m) - umbrellapompe (f) - shoeshorty (m) - "boy short" underwear for womenstring (m) - thong underwearsweat (m) - sweatshirt

brushing (m) - blowdryfringué / sapé - dressed lifting (m) - face liftrabais - discountrelooking (m) - makeoverringard - old fashioned, out of style

Entertainment & Technology

clope / sèche (f) - cigarettecame (f) - drugsdéfoncé - highboîte (f) - nightclub, barcourt-jus (m) - short circuit boum / teuf (f) - party resto (m) - restaurantse faire un resto - to go out to eats'éclater - to have funse marrer - to laughmater la téloche - to watch TV se faire un ciné / se faire une toile - to go to the movies cinoche (m) - movie theather faire un tabac - to be a hit, success (a film, a song, etc.) tube (f) - hit songplay-back (m) - lip-synching zapping (m) - channel surfingbuter - to bump off, killtaule / calèche (f) - jail, slammermaton (m) - prison guard se faire la belle / se carapater - to run away, escapecavale (f) - escape (from prison) pétard (m) - gun / jointpotin (m) - gossippeople / pipol (m) - celebritiescasting (m) - auditionbook (m) - portfolio (for a model, actor, etc.)

Baby Talk

faire dodo - to go beddy-byeavoir un bobo - to have a booboo

faire pipi - to go peepeefaire caca - to go poopoo

mamie / mémé - grandmapappy / pépé - grandpatata / tatie - aunttonton - uncle

doudou (m) - favorite stuffed animal / blankiejoujoux (m) - toysnounours (m) - teddy beartoto (m) - carlolo (m) - milk

minet (m) - kittytoutou (m) - doggydada (f) - horsie

Proper Names

A la tienne, Etienne ! Cheers!

Ça glisse, Alice ! It's slippery!

Tu parles, Charles ! You bet!

Tranquille, Emile ! Calm down!

Idioms & Proverbs

C'est en forgeant qu'on devient forgeron. Practice makes perfect.Si jeunesse savait, si vieillesse pouvait. If the young knew, if the old could.Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner. To understand is to forgive.Vouloir, c'est pouvoir. Where there's a will, there's a way.Un de perdu, dix de retrouvés. There's other fish in the sea.L'habit ne fait pas le moine. Clothes doesn't make the man.

Animals

avoir d'autres chats à fouetter - to have better things to do; other fish to fryavoir un chat dans la gorge - to have a frog in your throatdoux comme un agneau - soft/gentle like a lamb

un froid de canard - very coldappeler un chat un chat - to call a spade a spades'entendre comme chien et chat - to get along like cats and dogsun mal de chien - difficultiesune vie de chien - difficult lifepasser du coq à l'âne - to change subjects quicklyavoir une mémoire d'éléphant - to have a good memoryavoir une faim de loup - to be starvingmarcher à pas de loup - to walk silentlyrevenir à ses moutons - to get back to the subjectavoir la chair de poule - to have goosebumpsquand les poules auront les dents - when pigs flyune peau de vache - a mean personune langue de vipère - a person who often speaks badly of otherschercher la petite bête - to nitpick, split hairsavoir le cafard - to be down, depressedentre chien et loup - at dusk, sundownavaler des couleuvres - to swallow one's pridela brebis galeuse de la famille - black sheep of the familyle bouc émissaire / le dindon de la farce - scapegoatavoir une araignée au plafond - to have bats in the belfryêtre heureux comme un poisson dans l'eau - to be as happy as a clam at high tideil y a anguille sous la roche - I smell a ratil faut ménager la chèvre et le chou - you have to run with the hare and hunt with the houndsjetter quelqu'un dans la fosse aux lions - to throw someone to the wolvesse jetter dans la gueule du loup - to put one's hand in the lion's mouthcourir deux lièvres à la fois - to ride two horses at the same timemettre la charue avant les bœufs - to put the cart before the horsece n'est pas à un vieux singe qu'on apprend à faire des grimaces - you can't teach an old dog new tricksêtre hardi comme un coq sur son fumier - to be a showoffavoir une fièvre de cheval - to have a high fever

Body Parts

se creuser la tête - to think really hardse croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter - to think oneself is better than everyone elsese mettre le doigt dans l'œil - to make a mistakerester bouche cousue - to not say anything; keep a secretavoir le coeur sur le main - to wear one's heart on one's sleeveavoir un cheveu sur la langue - to lispne pas avoir la langue dans sa poche - to be talkativeavoir la langue bien pendue - to know how to answer/talkfaire la tête - to poutgarder la tête froide - to keep one's calm

ne pas avoir froid aux yeux - to not be scaredavoir/mettre l'eau à la bouche - to want/drool over somethingrester bouche bée - to be speechlessne rien faire de ses dix doigts - to be lazyavoir l'estomac dans les talons - to be hungryprendre ses jambes à son cou - to leave quicklyne pas lever le nez - to concentrate on somethingà l'œil - without paying, for freefaire la sourde oreille - to not listen/hearêtre bête comme ses pieds - to be stupidmettre les pieds dans le plat - to say/do something stupidcoûter les yeux de la tête - to cost an arm and a legse payer la tête de quelqu-'un - to pull someone's legdonner sa langue au chat - to give upavoir les dents longues - to be ambitiousavoir le bras long - to have influence, connectionsêtre au bout de la langue - to be at the tip of your tongueavoir un poil dans la main - to be lazy, to avoid workcasser les pieds à quelqu'un - to get on someone's nervesmanger sur le pouce - to grab a bite to eatenlever une épine du pied à quelqu'un - to help someone outdormir sur les deux oreilles - to sleep soundlyprendre la lune avec les dents - to try to do the impossible rebattre les oreilles - to repeat the same story over and over

Numbers

en moins de deux - very quicklychercher midi à quatorze heures - to make things complicatedcomme deux et deux font quatre - sure, certainles deux font la paire - both are the samejamais deux sans trois - something that's happened twice, will happen a third timeni une ni deux - without hesitating, very fastquatre à quatre - quicklydire des quatre vérités à quelqu'un - to say what you think of someonese mettre en quatre - to give oneself a hard taskun de ces quatre - one of these daysêtre tiré à quatre épingles - to be dressed welltourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche - to take time to think before speakingvoir trente-six chandelles - to see starsfaire les cent pas - to pace back and forth, come and gofaire les quatre cents coups - to have a hectic and chaotic life; to sow one's wild oatsse mettre sur son trente et un - to be dressed to kill

Colors

blanc bonnet et bonnet blanc - the same thingêtre blanc comme un linge - to be white from fearpasser une nuit blanche - to spend a sleepless nightdonner carte blanche à quelqu'un - to let someone do what they wantêtre un cordon bleu - to be a good cookêtre fleur bleu - to be sentimentalavoir une peur bleue - to be scared stiffêtre la bete noire - to be the person that no one likesavoir des idées noires - to be sadvoir la vie en rose - to see the good side of things, to be optimisticdonner le feu vert - to give the green light to someonese mettre au vert - to rest in the countrysidedevenir pourpre - to get red with embarassment

Food

appuyer sur le champignon - to go very fast, accelerateêtre haut comme trois pommes - to be smallne pas être dans son assiette - to not feel yourselfsucrer les fraises - to be senile, crazytomber dans les pommes - to faint, pass outcouper la poire en deux - to meet halfwayjeter de l'huile sur le feu - to add fuel to the firetondre des œufs - to be cheap, a skinflintpédaler dans la semoule - to become insane, senilec'est la goutte d'eau qui fait déborder la vase - it's the straw that broke the camel's backmettre du beurre dans les épinards - to help financiallycasser du sucre sur son dos - to spread lies about someone, talk about someone behind his/her backêtre dans le pétrin - to be in a jam

Other

être dans ses petits souliers - to not feel comfortableavoir des oursins dans la poche - to be stingy, cheapfaire d'une pierre deux coups - to kill two birds with one stonene pas être de la dernière pluie - to not be born yesterdaypendre la crémaillère - to have a house-warming party vendre la mèche - to let the cat out of the bag, to tell a secretn'y voir que du feu - to be taken in / to be hadne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillière - to not be subtle about somethingfaire un chèque en bois - to write a bad checkmanger les pissenlits par la racine - to push up daisies, to be dead and buriedtourner autour du pot - to beat around the bushse mettre à table - to confess, come cleanmettre des bâtons dans les roues de quelqu'un - to throw a monkey wrench in

someone's businessreprendre ses billes - to renege on a dealun coup d'épée dans l'eau - a wasted effortêtre au four et au moulin - to be in two places at oncefaire le pont - to take a long weekendtirer les plans sur la comète - to count one's chickens before they have hatchedce n'est pas la mer à boire - it's not as bad as all thatc'est au bout du monde - it's halfway around the worldce n'est pas le Pérou - it's nothing to write home about / it's no great fortunetirer le diable par la queue - to barely get by, have a hard time il ne faut pas déshabiller Pierre pour payer Paul - you shouldn't rob Paul to pay Peterparler à quelqu'un à brûle-pourpoint - to ask someone point-blank raconter des histoires à dormir debout - to tell tall talesprendre la poudre d'escampette - to leave quicklytirer son épingle du jeu - to get out of a difficult situationmener en bateau - to lead someone on, to lie