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.
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.
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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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 ?
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.
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.
Voilà is often used with quoi at the end of the sentence.
A la limite is mostly used by young people, and can be translated as I suppose or I mean.
Tu vois ? is the closest approximation for you know?
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.")
Ben (pronounced liked bain) adds emphasis to questions, statements, commands and yes or no.
Bon ben is used to wrap up a thought or conversation. Translated as ok or well.
Donc emphasizes a question or command.
Alors emphasizes an interjection and yes or no.
Moi is commonly added to commands involving the senses. The closest translation in English is "just." Regarde-moi-ça ! Just look at that!
Eh bien means well... at the beginning of a sentence or thought.[not recorded yet]
Hein ? is similar to eh? at the end of a sentence.
Euh... is the filler equivalent to uh or um when you're thinking of what to say next.
Voyons... is similar to let's see.
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!
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 it C'est du gâteau ! - It's a piece of cake! Revenons à nos moutons - Let's get back to the subject Ça saute aux yeux - That's obvious C'est dans la poche - It's a sure thing Quand les poules auront des dents - When pigs fly Ça ne tourne pas rond - Something's wrong C'est pas vrai ! - You're kidding! Ce n'est pas la mer à boire - It's not the end of the world C'est pas sorcier - It's not rocket science Je vais jeter un œil - I'll take a look Ça n'a rien à voir avec... - That has nothing to do with... Ça vaut le coup - It's worth it On voit que dalle - You can't see anything Ça 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 see Je suis prems ! - I'm first! Rien que d’en parler... - Just talking about it...
If you can't remember the name of a thing, you can use ce truc, ce machin, ce bidule or cet engin similarly to the English thingy, thingamajig, whatchamacallit, etc.
What's-his-name is Monsieur Untel and what's-her-name is Madame Unetelle. You can also use Machin but it has a more derogative meaning, as if you are saying the person is merely an object.
Common Verbs
balancer - to throw (away)
en baver - to have a hard time
bosser - to work
bouffer - to eat
bourrer - to stuff, cram
bousiller - to break, damage chialer - to cry chopper - to get, to catch débarquer - to arrive without notice dégoter - to find, come up with, dig up encarrer - to enter engueuler - to tell someone off / chew someone out / give someone hell épater / scier - to astonish, surprise être 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 boring faire gaffe - be careful, pay attention farfouiller - to rummage filer - to give, hand over filer à l'anglaise - to leave without saying goodbye / to take a French leave flipper - to go crazy, flip out fourrer - to cram, stick, shove foutre - to put, throw / to give / to do foutre le bordel - to make a mess gaver - to be sick of gerber - to puke gober - to believe naively / to fall for gonfler - to annoy louper - to miss mater / zieuter - to look papoter - to chatter, gossip paumer - to lose piger - to understand piquer - to steal planquer - to hide poireauter - to wait repêcher - to find rigoler / se marrer - to laugh roupiller - to sleep schlinguer - to stink se planter - to make a mistake se pointer / radiner - to show up se tirer / se barrer / se casser - to leave vadrouiller - 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??
J'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
bidon - phoney, fake chapeau - bravo, hats off! chelou - shady, suspicious chiant - annoying collant - clingy cradingue / crado - filthy débile - pathetic, stupid dégueulasse - disgusting déjanté - oddball dingue / cinglé / timbré / givré / barjo / loufoque - crazy farfelu - eccentric futé - cunning, crafty, sly génial / chouette - great godiche - silly, awkward gratos- free impec - great, terrific kif-kif - same difference; it's the same mal barré / mal foutu - "in dire straits" / screwed marrant / rigolo - funny moche - ugly nickel - very clean nunuche - silly, stupid pas terrible - not good radin - cheap roublard - devious, cunning salé - expensive sympa - nice, likable vache - mean zinzin - nuts
Common Intensifiers / Adverbs
carrément - completely rudement - very, terribly pas mal de / un paquet de - a lot of super / mega / hyper - very, ultra vachement - very, really foutrement - extremely
Oh la vache ! - Oh wow!
espèce de + adjectif - stupid + adjective adjectif + de chez + adjectif - really, completely + adjective → Ce livre est nul de chez nul. This book majorly sucks. nom + de malheur - darned + noun nom + d'enfer - really good + noun
Verlan
Verlan is a popular form of slang that involves reversing the syllables in regular words.
mère - reum
père - reup
femme - meuf
mec - keum
fête - teuf
flic - keuf
louche - chelou
cher - reuch
énervé - vénère
boudin - doubin
capote - poteca
toi - ouat
moi - ouam
Health & Body
babines (f) - lips barbouze (f) - beard bide / bidon (m) - belly → Mon chat a un bide énorme ! My cat has a huge belly! caillou / ciboulot (m) - head carcasse (f) - body couille/ roubignole (f) - testicle esgourdes (f) - ears gueule (f) / bec (m) - mouth → Ferme ta gueule ! Shut up! jambons / gigots (m) - thighs mirettes (f) - eyes nichons (m) - breasts palpitant / battant (m) - heart paluche / pince (f) - hand panard / ripaton (m) - foot patte / gambette / guibole/ quille (f) - leg pif / blair (m) - nose riquiqui (m) - pinkie finger tifs (m) - hair tignasse (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 neck passer sur le billard - to have an operation avoir la pêche / la patate - to be on top of the world, to feel good avoir mal au cœur - to feel nauseated / to feel like vomiting gerber / dégueuler - to puke crever / clamser - to die (figuratively), to "croak" avoir mauvaise / bonne mine - to look bad / good être maigre comme un clou - to be really skinny attraper la crève - to catch a terrible cold tomber dans les pommes / les vapes - to pass out requinquer - to perk up se débarbouiller - to wash your face à l'article de la mort - at death's door bien roulée - good body mal fichu - sick l'hosto [l'hôpital] - hospital
Emotions & Personality
crevé / lessivé / nase / mort / cassé / vanné / HS [hors-service] - really tired, exhausted avoir le cafard / le blues / le spleen - to be sad, depressed être de mauvais poil - to be in a bad mood en 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 angry raffoler de quelque chose - to be crazy about something être accro à quelque chose - to be addicted to something avoir le mal du pays - to be homesick se barber - to get bored avoir la trouille / la frousse / le trac - to be scared fiche 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 around se planter - to make a mistake / to fall péter les plombs / péter un cable - to go crazy perdre la boule / les pédales - to lose one's mind
s'engueuler / bagarrer - to fight, yell rififi (m) / bagarre (f) - fight raclée / saucée / trempe (f) - scolding filer une baffe / une claque / une beigne à quelqu'un - to slap someone coller un pain / une mandale / une chataigne / un marron à quelqu'un - to punch someone coquard (m) - black eye furax - furious, angry blairer quelqu'un - to not be able to stand someone
ne pas sentir quelqu'un - to not like, not be able to stand someone
casser les pieds à quelqu'un / prendre la tête à quelqu'un - to annoy someone être casse-bonbons / casse-pieds / casse-couilles - to be a pain in the neck/ass cafter 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 gonflerquelqu'un / emmerderquelqu'un - to get on someone's nerves, be a pain faire 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 angry se mettre en pétard - to get crabby, angry se faire de la bile - to get all worked up
en faire toute une salade - to make a big deal about it taper sur les nerfs à quelqu'un - to get on someone's nerves chambrer / taquinerquelqu'un - to tease, bother someone Tu 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 lazy avoir un poil dans la main - to be really lazy avoir la bougeotte - to be fidgety flemmard / feignant - lazy glander / 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 off frimeur (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-noser raté (m) - loser débile / taré - stupid, idiotic con (m) / conne (f) - idiot → "Casse-toi, pauvre con !" Get lost, stupid idiot! - quote from former French president, Nicolas Sarkozy quiche (f) - stupid person bourrique (m/f) - a blockhead avoir l'air vaseux - to seem dazed bête noire (f) - pet peeve galère (f) - problem, difficulty
donner un coup de main - to give someone a hand / to help someone dépanner quelqu'un - to do someone a favor retirer une épine du pied à quelqu'un - to do someone a big favor
pot (m) - luck / drink bol (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 luck guignard(e)(m/f) - unlucky person avoir de la veine - to be lucky branché - 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) - hazing bouquin (m) - book bûcher / potasser - to study hard, to cram calé en - good/smart in cartonner à un examen - to ace an exam chouchou (m) - teacher's pet colle (f) - difficult question
coller 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 detention fac (f) - university piger - to understand, to get (it) plancher - to be grilled/interrogated by a teacher potache (m) - student se faire étendre / coller à un examen - to flunk a test sécher un cours - to skip class
Weather & Time
cailler - to freeze cramer - to burn flotter - to rain flotte (f) - water froid de canard - really cold weather temps de chien - lousy weather tomber des cordes - to rain heavily, to pour il pleut comme vache qui pisse - it's pouring / it's really coming down saucée (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, sunset
il y a des lustres - a long time ago
pige (f) - year un de ces quat' - one of these days
Talking & Chatting
avoir de la tchatche - to talk a lot avoir un mot sur le bout de la langue - to have a word on the tip of your tongue baratin (m) - nonsense baratiner - to sweet talk bavarder / causer - to chat → Elle aime causer et tout le monde la connaît. She likes to chat and everyone knows her. blaze (m) - name casser les oreilles à quelqu'un - to talk someone's ear off chanter comme une casserole - to sing really badly charabia (m) - gibberish charrier - to exaggerate dégoiser - to talk a lot, rattle on déjanter - to talk nonsense, to go crazy donner un coup de fil - to call, telephone et patati et patata - blah blah blah jacter - to speak, chatter parler une langue comme une vache espagnole - to speak a language really badly passer du coq à l'âne - to quickly change the subject quand on parle du loup - speak of the devil ragots - 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, moan tchatcher - to chat tuyau (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 hungry avoir un petit creux - to be a little hungry arroser - to drink to celebrate something barbaque / bidoche (f) - bad meat Berk ! - Yuck! blonde (f) - ale boire un verre / un coup / un pot - to have a drink bouffe / boustifaille (f) - food bouffer - to eat boui-boui (m) - dive, bad restaurant bourré / pété / rond / saoul / défoncé / plein - drunk ça 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, buzzed chopine (f) - bottle of wine dégueulasse - disgusting gavé - stuffed (ate too much) se goinfrer / s'empiffrer / se taper - to pig out gueuleton (m) - feast, huge spread of food Miam ! - Yum! péter - to fart (also: to burst, blow up, snap) picole (f) - alcohol, booze picoler - to drink alcohol picoleur, picoleuse - drinker pinard (m) - cheap wine pochtron / poivrot (m) - drunkard prendre une cuite - to get wasted/plastered pression (f) - draft beer régaler - 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 drinks trinquer - 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 Frenchman belle-doche (f) - mother-in-law canaille (f) - rascal, scoundrel copain / copine (m/f) - friend, pal fiston (m) - son frangin (m) - brother frangine (f) - sister gamin/e (m/f) - kid, brat gars (m) - boy gosse (m/f) - kid [be careful: this means testicles in Quebecois French!] loulou / loulotte - boyfriend / girlfriend mec / keum / type (m) - guy meuf [Verlan for femme] - wife môme (m/f) - kid, brat moutards / lardons / marmots / morveux (m) - kids nana / gonzesse (f) - girl, chick pote (m) - buddy, mate racaille (f) - scum reum [Verlan for mère] - mother reup [Verlan for père] - father ricain(e) - American vieux (m) - parents voyou / gouape - punk, hooligan
clébard (m) - mutt, hound piaf (m) - bird
Places & Transportation
piaule / crèche (f) - bedroom pieu / plumard / pageot (m) - bed crècher - to crash, to live pioncer / roupiller - to sleep truc / machin (m) - a thing, thingamajig bordel (m) / bazar (m) / galère (f) - mess → C'est quoi ce bordel ? What is all this mess? bagnole / caisse (f) - car baraque (f) - shed, stand, house bled 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 kilometers borne (f) - kilometer
Work & Money
arnaquer - to rip off, cheat arnaqueur (m) - con artist balle (f) - franc (many French people still think in francs instead of euros) BCBG [bon chic bon genre] - posh, stylish, preppy bo-bo[Bourgeois Bohême] - person with good job and Bohemian lifestyle boîte (f) - company bosser / taffer - to work boulot (m) - work, job bourge (n) - bourgeois, middle class claquer - to blow money clodo / clochard (m) - bum, homeless person douloureuse (f) - bill (that you know is going to be high) être plein aux as - to have a lot of money fric / pognon / blé / des sous / pèze / l'oseille (m) - money fauché / à sec / raide / dans la dèche - broke faux jeton (m) - two-sided, hypocritical (politician) flic / keuf / poulet (m) - cop grippe-sou (f) - penny pincher gyneco [gynécologue] - gynecologist kiné [kinésithérapeute] - physiotherapist mettre au clou - to hock, pawn prolo (m) - working class proprio [propriétaire] - landlord, landlady psy [psychologue] - psychologist radin - cheap reuch - expensive richard (m) - very wealthy man rmiste (m) - someone who earns the jobseeker's allowance (RMI) salé - expensive (a bill) se faire arnaquer - to get ripped off smicard (m) - someone who earns minimum wage (SMIC) taffe (m) - job, work thune (f) - money / coin toubib (m) - doctor turbin (m) - job, daily grind
Ça coûte la peau des fesses ! / Ça douille ! - That's really expensive!
Love & Dating
amourettes (f) - passing love affairs
avoir le béguin pour / craquer pour / en pincer pour / flasher sur quelqu'un - to have a crush on someone avoir le coup de foudre - to be in love at first sight avoir un cœur d'artichaut - to be fickle (in love) brancher quelqu'un - to try to seduce someone bombe (f) - attractive woman boudin/ thon / pou (m) - ugly person [these are mean words!] canon (m) - hot, very attractive person capote (f) / chapeau / gant (m) - condom choper / emballer / embarquer quelqu'un - to succesfully seduce / pick up someone draguer / flirter - to flirt en cloque - pregnant / "knocked up" se faire jeter / se prendre une veste - to get denied, turned down gars / mec / type / bonhomme / keum - guy, man jules - boyfriend, lover kiffer - to like lové - cuddly, snuggly larguer / plaquer - to leave, dump (a person) mater quelqu'un - to check out (someone) moche - ugly nana / nénette / minette / gonzesse / meuf - woman, girl, chick se remettre de quelqu'un - to get over someone rencard (m) - date rouler un patin / une pelleà quelqu'un - to French kiss someone poser un lapin à quelqu'un - to stand someone up (for a date) tripoter / peloter - to grope, fondle
brushing (m) - blowdry
fringué / sapé - dressed lifting (m) - face lift rabais - discount relooking (m) - makeover ringard - old fashioned, out of style
Entertainment & Technology
clope / sèche (f) - cigarette came (f) - drugs défoncé - high boîte (f) - nightclub, bar court-jus (m) - short circuit boum / teuf (f) - party resto (m) - restaurant se faire un resto - to go out to eat s'éclater - to have fun se marrer - to laugh mater 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 song play-back (m) - lip-synching zapping (m) - channel surfing buter - to bump off, kill taule / calèche (f) - jail, slammer maton (m) - prison guard se faire la belle / se carapater - to run away, escape cavale (f) - escape (from prison) pétard (m) - gun / joint potin (m) - gossip people / pipol (m) - celebrities casting (m) - audition book (m) - portfolio (for a model, actor, etc.)
Baby Talk
faire dodo - to go beddy-bye avoir un bobo - to have a booboo faire pipi - to go peepee faire caca - to go poopoo
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 fry avoir un chat dans la gorge - to have a frog in your throat doux comme un agneau - soft/gentle like a lamb un froid de canard - very cold appeler un chat un chat - to call a spade a spade s'entendre comme chien et chat - to get along like cats and dogs un mal de chien - difficulties une vie de chien - difficult life passer du coq à l'âne - to change subjects quickly avoir une mémoire d'éléphant - to have a good memory avoir une faim de loup - to be starving marcher à pas de loup - to walk silently revenir à ses moutons - to get back to the subject avoir la chair de poule - to have goosebumps quand les poules auront les dents - when pigs fly une peau de vache - a mean person une langue de vipère - a person who often speaks badly of others chercher la petite bête - to nitpick, split hairs avoir le cafard - to be down, depressed entre chien et loup - at dusk, sundown avaler des couleuvres - to swallow one's pride la brebis galeuse de la famille - black sheep of the family le bouc émissaire / le dindon de la farce - scapegoat avoir une araignée au plafond - to have bats in the belfry être heureux comme un poisson dans l'eau - to be as happy as a clam at high tide il y a anguille sous la roche - I smell a rat il faut ménager la chèvre et le chou - you have to run with the hare and hunt with the hounds jetter quelqu'un dans la fosse aux lions - to throw someone to the wolves se jeter dans la gueule du loup - to put one's hand in the lion's mouth courir deux lièvres à la fois - to ride two horses at the same time mettre la charue avant les bœufs - to put the cart before the horse ce n'est pas à un vieux singe qu'on apprend à faire des grimaces - you can't teach an old dog new tricks être hardi comme un coq sur son fumier - to be a showoff avoir une fièvre de cheval - to have a high fever
Body Parts
se creuser la tête - to think really hard se croire sorti de la cuisse de Jupiter - to think oneself is better than everyone else se mettre le doigt dans l'œil - to make a mistake rester bouche cousue - to not say anything; keep a secret avoir le coeur sur la main - to wear one's heart on one's sleeve avoir un cheveu sur la langue - to lisp ne pas avoir la langue dans sa poche - to be talkative avoir la langue bien pendue - to know how to answer/talk faire la tête - to pout garder la tête froide - to keep one's calm ne pas avoir froid aux yeux - to not be scared avoir/mettre l'eau à la bouche - to want/drool over something rester bouche bée - to be speechless ne rien faire de ses dix doigts - to be lazy avoir l'estomac dans les talons - to be hungry prendre ses jambes à son cou - to leave quickly ne pas lever le nez - to concentrate on something à l'œil - without paying, for free faire la sourde oreille - to not listen/hear être bête comme ses pieds - to be stupid mettre les pieds dans le plat - to say/do something stupid coûter les yeux de la tête - to cost an arm and a leg se payer la tête de quelqu-'un - to pull someone's leg donner sa langue au chat - to give up avoir les dents longues - to be ambitious avoir le bras long - to have influence, connections être au bout de la langue - to be at the tip of your tongue avoir un poil dans la main - to be lazy, to avoid work casser les pieds à quelqu'un - to get on someone's nerves manger sur le pouce - to grab a bite to eat enlever une épine du pied à quelqu'un - to help someone out dormir sur les deux oreilles - to sleep soundly prendre 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 quickly chercher midi à quatorze heures - to make things complicated comme deux et deux font quatre - sure, certain les deux font la paire - both are the same jamais deux sans trois - something that's happened twice, will happen a third time ni une ni deux - without hesitating, very fast quatre à quatre - quickly dire des quatre vérités à quelqu'un - to say what you think of someone se mettre en quatre - to give oneself a hard task un de ces quatre - one of these days être tiré à quatre épingles - to be dressed well tourner sept fois sa langue dans sa bouche - to take time to think before speaking voir trente-six chandelles - to see stars faire les cent pas - to pace back and forth, come and go faire les quatre cents coups - to have a hectic and chaotic life; to sow one's wild oats se mettre sur son trente et un - to be dressed to kill
Colors
blanc bonnet et bonnet blanc - the same thing être blanc comme un linge - to be white from fear passer une nuit blanche - to spend a sleepless night donner carte blanche à quelqu'un - to let someone do what they want être un cordon bleu - to be a good cook être fleur bleu - to be sentimental avoir une peur bleue - to be scared stiff être la bete noire - to be the person that no one likes avoir des idées noires - to be sad voir la vie en rose - to see the good side of things, to be optimistic donner le feu vert - to give the green light to someone se mettre au vert - to rest in the countryside devenir pourpre - to get red with embarassment
Food
appuyer sur le champignon - to go very fast, accelerate être haut comme trois pommes - to be small ne pas être dans son assiette - to not feel yourself sucrer les fraises - to be senile, crazy tomber dans les pommes - to faint, pass out couper la poire en deux - to meet halfway jeter de l'huile sur le feu - to add fuel to the fire tondre des œufs - to be cheap, a skinflint pédaler dans la semoule - to become insane, senile c'est la goutte d'eau qui fait déborder la vase - it's the straw that broke the camel's back mettre du beurre dans les épinards - to help financially casser du sucre sur son dos - to spread lies about someone, talk about someone behind his/her back être dans le pétrin - to be in a jam
Other
être dans ses petits souliers - to not feel comfortable avoir des oursins dans la poche - to be stingy, cheap faire d'une pierre deux coups - to kill two birds with one stone ne pas être de la dernière pluie - to not be born yesterday pendre la crémaillère - to have a house-warming party vendre la mèche - to let the cat out of the bag, to tell a secret n'y voir que du feu - to be taken in / to be had ne pas y aller avec le dos de la cuillière - to not be subtle about something faire un chèque en bois - to write a bad check manger les pissenlits par la racine - to push up daisies, to be dead and buried tourner autour du pot - to beat around the bush se mettre à table - to confess, come clean mettre des bâtons dans les roues de quelqu'un - to throw a monkey wrench in someone's business reprendre ses billes - to renege on a deal un coup d'épée dans l'eau - a wasted effort être au four et au moulin - to be in two places at once faire le pont - to take a long weekend tirer les plans sur la comète - to count one's chickens before they have hatched ce n'est pas la mer à boire - it's not as bad as all that c'est au bout du monde - it's halfway around the world ce n'est pas le Pérou - it's nothing to write home about / it's no great fortune tirer 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 Peter parler à quelqu'un à brûle-pourpoint - to ask someone point-blank raconter des histoires à dormir debout - to tell tall tales prendre la poudre d'escampette - to leave quickly tirer son épingle du jeu - to get out of a difficult situation mener en bateau - to lead someone on, to lie
