Yes I know, doesn’t nicely flow as much in English! (will be a piece of cake). The reason is for priority of sound. teubé = bête, Another example is feuk which derives from the verlan word keuf which means flic (original slang word for police). Required fields are marked *. Click here to get a copy. It’s considered a language game that involves breaking up original French words at their syllables and consonants and reversing them. Maybe I should create an article to cover all the other stuff. Vous êtes fou! And it’s way easier than formal argot. You probably have heard of “le Verlan” which consists of inverting syllables in a word (the word “Verlan” itself is an inversion of the word “l’envers” (‘reverse’). Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you Verlan is the cryptic language of the street, it’s a language used to speak while avoiding authority figures, parents, and those you are talking about… it’s no surprise that words about race, drugs (oinj = joint) or sex (chatte = teuch’) are verlanized to have a more “private” conversations amongst one another. Vous êtes arrivés ici en tromé ? French is a language that’s all about sound! It’s crazy! They are just completely different words that substitute the same words you’ve already been learning, such as the word bagnole, which is argot for voiture (car). Like this: French → renchfay, today → odaytay, cup → upcay. Changer ). So when to use teuf? If they are, try to casually throw it in there, they might think it’s cute. If you never heard of this one before, fou is the regular word in French for “crazy.”. © 2020 Enux Education Limited. Did you ever speak Pig Latin when you were young? Verlan is sometimes caught in the daily newspaper comics, it’s heard on television, it’s heard in French songs. When you try to say femme backwards by using the literal reversal (mmefe), it does not go whatsoever! • The deletion or elision of several syllables of long words before or after the inversion, For example, the standard word fond would be translated to donf. Keuf is verlan for “cop” or “police,” the envers of flic (which is argot for police). As you continue advancing in your French studies, FluentU keeps track of all the grammar and vocabulary that you’ve been learning. You’ll also be surprised to know that verlan has even made it into French dictionaries for its popular use! zyva = vas-y, Yes, key word: faster! Directly looking at it, you may be confused as to how femme becomes meuf, but here’s how the verlanisé of it looks: I know that even after this step-by-step explanation you still might not understand why femme becomes meuf, but as I mentioned before, sound is a number one rule! That’s another common change you’ll see with these next three words on the verlan list. Tromé is used almost all the time. Always remember that this is a language game, and that rules can be a little topsy turvy. Listen to music, google words and simply ask French people what certain words mean when you don’t quite understand them. To return to our French Language Learning section, click HERE. So if you’re speaking in front of your French homestay mom and you’re sneakingly planning to go to a secret French underground rave, then teuf would be the wiser word to use. Le verlan (pronounced ver-lan) is a form of French argot (slang). C’était un truc de ouf ! – Toubib > médecin (oui ça vient de l’arabe! Thanks for subscribing! Now that I’ve let you in on a little secret, chime in and try to detect verlan among young, cool, hip French speakers. keum = mec (homme), (Some of the examples were provided by the RedditFrench Community! Relou = lourd = ennuyeux, embêtant… Chelou = louche = bizarre La reum = la mère Une meuf = une femme Un keum = un mec La teuf = la fête Pécho = choper (= attraper, draguer) Une caillera = une racaille (= un délinquant) Un rebeu = un beur = un arabe Vénère = énervé La beuh = l’herbe = la marijuana La zicmu/ zi… Verlan is created by the inversion of syllables within a word. vegra = grave Since then, it’s popularity rose due to its presence in the music and film culture. There are three types of commonly practiced slang in French: louchébem, argot and verlan aka verlan à l’envers. Mer–ci becomes ci–mer. One quick look will give you an idea of the diverse content found on FluentU: Love the thought of learning French with native materials but afraid you won’t understand what’s being said? It’s worth learning how natives actually express themselves, after all! Verlan also comes from foreign words and then are verlanized. Mère (mother) in verlan is reum. Although it still bears a sort of negative connotation by the older generation due to its roots, it’s commonly used by many young French who are familiar with it. As French learners, you can learn French’s verlan—which is kind of like your childhood spoken codes but at a higher level—to understand and talk like natives. You know, that secret code language where you move the first consonant to the end of the word and add “ay”? In the case of frère aka reuf, the second “R” is also dropped: Frère → frè–re → re–frè → refre → reufre → reuf. This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Well, if your extent of French language usage is simply a classroom setting or ordering food at a French restaurant, then you shouldn’t care about verlan. In this case you break up the vowels together and take the ending pair of letters and move them to the beginning of the word. the list goes on…. Let’s just say that if you’re living in France at a homestay with foreign French parents, calling your house mom reum probably won’t slide. Those who should care are the people who get real-world experiences with French people in France, more specifically the young ados of France. Let’s not forget that French is a language that’s all about sound! Frère, which is the word for “brother” in French, as you see, gets verlanisé into reuf. Verlan à l’envers, last but not least, can be your life saver! Because similar to ouf and cimer, teuf is an extremely favored verlan word. Learning French becomes fun and easy when you learn with movie trailers, music videos, news and inspiring talks. Every language has its slang vocabulary, but argot is unique in that the majority of common formal verbs and nouns have a corresponding word for use among friends. (Did you come here by metro?). Il existe plusieurs niveaux de langue en français : souvent, quand on a appris le français à l’école et qu’on arrive en France on ne comprend plus rien à ce que les gens disent dans la rue ! C'est parti! So if you’re already a master of original French vocabulary and grammar, then verlan sera du gâteau ! Incorporating the “U” into these words and dropping the last “E’s” give the word a better sound in its envers (reversed) version. Another one of those easy, peasy, lemon squeezy verlanisé words! Like to ouf, moi or oim is broken up the same way, via rule exception. Others try to even verlaniser a word that’s already been verlanisé (this is known as veul), which is the double verlan of the word verlan, making it even more cryptic—but let’s not carried away. If you liked this post, something tells me that you'll love FluentU, the best way to learn French with real-world videos. It uses your viewed videos and mastered language lessons to recommend more useful videos and give you a 100% personalized experience. There are three types of commonly practiced slang in French: louchébem, argot and verlan aka verlan à l’envers. Here’s how it looks: f–0u becomes ou–f. I’m not going to translate this one into English for you because, well, you should know what merci means! The thing is this article is SPECIFICALLY on le verlan, I did not incorporate other slang. 1. It’s a cooler, cryptic slang that’s actively practiced and accepted by the younger French population. meuf = femme, Note: Be careful not to confuse vénère with the verb vénérer, which means to “venerate” or “worship” in French. How? À part ces mots en verlan, vous apprendrez aussi des mots familiers, voire des gros mots :-) Et si vous voulez connaître plus de gros mots en français, c’est dans cet article! Your comment is spot on, French does use a bunch for abbreviations and the link you provided was useful. In this post, I'm going to give a general overview of French slang, notamment the systems of argot, verlan, and a few commonly used French expressions. (Download). This article is great if you want to learn the basics of verlan and to understand what verlan is. French Slang 101. Ouf = fou (Un truc de ouf !) Here’s how this one looks: I know these verlanisé words look a little more German than French. FrenchCrazy Media LLC. zar-bi (zarb’) = bizarre… (That’s crazy or it’s crazy). Fêtons 2018 -les Asl ont un incroyable talent. FluentU lets you learn French from real-world content like music videos, commercials, news broadcasts, cartoons and inspiring talks. Nowadays French youth and various genres of music utilize verlan, enhancing musical style and depicting certain cultural/social backgrounds. Confusing, I know, so let’s not worry about this type of slang. You’ll be surprised at how much you actually hear! I have did a relatively detailed study of the use of verlan and it’s development, and have recently updated it and published it to http://egblanguages.blogspot.co.uk/p/verlan so please take a look at my (updated) work. These next three verlan words on the list are going to apply the same rule as the one found in femme. Slang is when speakers feel at ease, comfortable and colloquial. FluentU is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. Okay I said it, there. Amazon and the Amazon logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc, or its affiliates. The envers (reverse) of femme, which I hope you know translates to “woman” is meuf. It all began when French people chose to speak in code in an effort to hide information from social control and police forces. can take anywhere. To learn them would be like starting an entire new French lesson, but if you want to challenge yourself and try it out, a great way to do this is to incorporate one word a day into your learning and try to use it whenever possible. I’m glad you like my site, je vous souhaite une bonne journée! Too long ago, maybe. Pour mieux comprendre, une vidéo sur le français familier : C’est l’ensemble des mots particuliers qu’adopte un groupe social vivant replié sur lui-même et qui veut se distinguer et/ou se protéger du reste de la société (certains corps de métiers, grandes écoles, prisons, monde de la pègre, etc.). Like cimer, ouf is also really, really common. Vénère is the verlan of énervé, which is French for “angry” or “mad.” If you don’t feel either of these, would you say a tad bit frustrated? (You wanna come to the party tonight?). With the work you’ve been putting into simply learning original French language and grammar, to even think of picking up any form of French slang or argot can seem millions of light years away. T’es génial, cimer ! Good luck detectives. I did too, the first time I heard of such a thing as verlan! Et vous, c’est pareil dans votre(vos) langue(s)? ( Déconnexion / Argot on the other hand, can take loads of time to learn and is best picked up by living in real-time French culture. While all French words can technically be verlanisé, some are more commonly used than others. If you’re not a boucher (butcher) in France, you probably won’t be using this verbatim anytime soon! Verlan is used in music, primarily French rap and hip-hop because it allows for easier rhyming and adds a bit of style to the song. However I checked your site out and it’s completely relevant to this article, so I appreciate your comment. Verlan first became used in the poor communities around Paris following the 2nd World War. Cliquez pour partager sur Facebook(ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), Cliquez pour partager sur Pinterest(ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), Cliquez pour partager sur WhatsApp(ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre), Le français familier : le verlan et l’argot, Les sentiments : la colère, la tristesse, la peur, la joie…, La France et les français : jeux, vidéos et exercices tout niveau, Vidéo Les légumes (groupe de grands débutants oral ayant bien progressé! Start using FluentU on the website with your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes store or Google Play store. So I saved the best for last, because this French word might describe to how you feel right now, a little vénère aka énervé?