Lesson 16 placed familier at the bottom of the register ladder. Below it sits argot — slang — and inside argot, French has something genuinely unusual: verlan, a system for manufacturing new words by turning old ones inside out. You will not need to produce much of this. You will absolutely need to understand it.
Split a word into syllables and reverse them. The name is the method applied to itself: l'envers ("the reverse") → vers-l'en → verlan.
| Original | Split | Reversed | Verlan |
|---|---|---|---|
| l'envers | l'en-vers | vers-l'en | verlan |
| lourd | lou-rd | rd-lou | relou |
| louche | lou-che | che-lou | chelou |
| bizarre | bi-zarre | zarre-bi | zarbi |
| français | fran-çais | çais-fran | céfran |
One-syllable words get reshaped to make the flip pronounceable — a vowel is added or dropped:
| French | Pronunciation | From | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| meuf | MUHF | femme | woman |
| keuf | KUHF | flic | cop |
| ouf | OOF | fou | crazy |
| teuf | TUHF | fĂŞte | party |
| cimer | see-MAIR | merci | thanks |
| vénère | vay-NAIR | énervé | furious |
| tromé | tro-MAY | métro | the metro |
When a verlan word becomes mainstream, it loses its edge and gets flipped a second time. Arabe → beur (1980s, now completely standard — there was a radio station called Beur FM) → reubeu. Likewise femme → meuf → feumeu. If a verlan word sounds dated to you, it probably is.
Not verlan — just ordinary slang, and far more frequent. These are the words that fill casual conversation, films and song lyrics.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning | Standard |
|---|---|---|---|
| un truc | uhn TRĂśK | a thing, a whatsit | une chose |
| un machin | uhn mah-SHAN | a thingummy | un objet |
| un mec | uhn MEK | a guy | un homme |
| une nana | ĂĽn nah-NAH | a girl, a woman | une femme |
| un flic | uhn FLEEK | a cop | un policier |
| bosser | bo-SAY | to work | travailler |
| bouffer | boo-FAY | to eat | manger |
| kiffer | kee-FAY | to love, to be into | adorer |
| se barrer | suh bah-RAY | to clear off | partir |
| galérer | gah-lay-RAY | to struggle | avoir des difficultés |
| choper | sho-PAY | to grab, to catch | attraper |
| un pote | uhn POT | a mate | un ami |
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| c'est top / c'est génial | say TOP | it's great |
| c'est nul | say NĂśL | it's rubbish |
| c'est chiant | say shee-AHN | it's a pain (mildly crude) |
| c'est chaud | say SHOH | that's tough / risky |
| grave | GRAHV | totally, for real (intensifier) |
| carrément | kah-ray-MAHN | absolutely, flat out |
| trop | TROH | so, really (familier intensifier) |
Grave is worth a note: as an adjective it means "serious", but as a familier adverb it means "totally". — T'es d'accord ? — Grave ! is an enthusiastic yes.
French abbreviates by dropping vowels, using letter and number sounds, and truncating.
| French | Pronunciation | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| slt | sah-LĂś | salut (hi) |
| bjr / bsr | bohn-ZHOOR | bonjour / bonsoir |
| stp / svp | es-tay-PAY | s'il te / vous plaît |
| mdr | em-day-AIR | LOL (mort de rire) |
| ptdr | pay-tay-day-AIR | ROFL (pété de rire) |
| a+ / Ă plus | ah PLĂśS | see you |
| qqn / qqch | kel-KUHN | quelqu'un / quelque chose |
| c / g / t | SAY / ZHAY / TAY | c'est / j'ai / t'es |
| dsl | day-zo-LAY | désolé (sorry) |
| tkt | tuh an-kee-et PAH | don't worry (t'inquiète) |
The logic is phonetic: koi29 reads as quoi de neuf ("what's new"), because 2 is "de" and 9 is "neuf".
Understand everything; produce very little. Slang used by a non-native too early sounds like someone trying on a costume. Wait until someone uses it with you, then mirror it back cautiously. Never use it with strangers, in any workplace, or in writing.
Three practical cautions. Some argot is much cruder than its dictionary gloss suggests — check before repeating. Verlan is generationally and geographically marked, so a word that works in the Paris suburbs may be meaningless in Bordeaux or Brussels. And wesh, which you will hear constantly in films, is very strongly marked — recognise it, do not deploy it.
Verlan grew out of the working-class banlieues around Paris and Marseille, spread through rap and cinema (La Haine is the classic text), and some words have entered the standard language entirely — few French people now register meuf or beur as slang at all. The Larousse lists them.
Québec has essentially no verlan — it is a French-from-France phenomenon. Québécois slang draws on other sources: English (c'est le fun, checker, être badloqué), older French dialects, and its own inventions — un chum (boyfriend/mate), une blonde (girlfriend), capoter (to freak out), écœurant (which confusingly means both "disgusting" and "fantastic", depending on tone). Slang is one of the places where the two varieties diverge most sharply.
Write the standard French word.
Write France or Québec for where each word belongs.
1. How is verlan formed?
2. What's the safe rule for using slang as a learner?
3. Would you hear much verlan in Montréal?