60+ French Slang Words & Phrases That You’re Not Aware Of

French is one of the world’s top ten most widely spoken languages. You can hear the language spoken on nearly every continent, even if you are not in Europe. French is the official language of 29 countries, the European Union’s (EU) procedural language, and the only language used in EU Court of Justice deliberations.

Around 300 million people speak French, according to a recent study. This includes native speakers, second language learners, and a variety of French dialects. Many major higher education destinations, such as France, Canada, Switzerland, and Belgium, speak French.

We recommend that you devote some time to learning French now that we have established that it is an important language, particularly for international students. Though learning the fundamentals of French can be challenging and time-consuming, we thought it would be a good idea to teach you some common French slang phrases words to help you get a better understanding of the language.

These slangs in French will not allow you to freely converse with a native French speaker, but they will provide you with some words to impress your friends and peers.

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General Everyday French Slang Words

These French slangs are understood throughout the French-speaking world. 

• bouffer – to eat.
• draguer – to flirt.
• piquer – to steal.
• une arnaque – a scam.
• un truc – a thing.
• déboussolé – disorientated.
• un type, un mec – a guy.
• une meuf – a woman.
• un mail – an email.
• gerber – to vomit.
• c’est nul – that sucks
• nickel! – perfect.
• c’est top that’s great
• flasher sur quelqu’un – to have a crush on someone
• une piastre – a dollar.
• les bas – socks.
• bordel – a large mess.
• balle – bullet.
• baraque – a house.
• BG – This is a popular acronym in the common French slang. It stands for beau gosse, which means a handsome man. 
• blé – money. 
• bobo – an injury. 
• une clope – cigarette. This is actually one of the most popular slang French words in Paris. 
• kiffer – to like something.
• ouf – awesome. 
• être vénère – angry or annoyed. 

Common French Slang Words And Phrases 

These are French slang phrases where the individual words in the sentence are not slang, but they combine into a sentence that is used as a slang.

• T’inquiète – a short version of Ne t’inquiète pas meaning ‘Don’t worry.
• T’en fais pas or Ne t’en fais pas – Don’t make any or Don’t worry.
• Un coup de téléphone – a phone call.
• C’est n’importe quoi – It’s nonsense.
• Il a ma peau He’s out to get me.
• Perdre la tête – ‘to lose one’s head’, just like the same phrase in English.
• Pas pire – Not bad.
• Faire un téléphone – to make a phone call.
• Ça va? Ça va! – ‘How are you?’ ‘Good!”
• Arrête de te la péter – This is one of the most common slang French words used to tell someone to stop being a show-off or stop bragging.
• Je me casse – I am out of here.
• Il capte rien – He doesn’t understand anything.
• Laisse tomber – Let it go.
• J’ai la flemme – I am not in the mood to do a task.
• J’ai un petit creux – I am a bit hungry.

Regional French Vocabulary

French slang is so extensive that there are different iterations of it in different parts of France. Here are some french slang phrases that are used only in certain smaller French-speaking regions – 

A Pencil

• un crayon gris (in southern France)
• un crayon de bois (in northern France)
• un crayon (everywhere else)

A Pen

• un Bic (Belgium and Kinshasa, DRC)
• un crayon (commonly used in Quebec for “pen” although it also means “pencil”)

A Plastic Grocery Bag

• une poche (in southwestern France)
• un pochon (in small regions of central and western France)
• un sachet (near the French-German border)
• un cornet (in Switzerland)
• un sac en plastique (understood throughout France)

A Chocolate Croissant

• une chocolatine (in Quebec and in the Toulouse region of France)
• un petit pain (in northern France)
• un pain au chocolat (in the rest of France)

Shoes

• les baskets (in France – refers only to trainers/running shoes)
• souliers (in Quebec – refers only to everyday shoes. Considered an old-fashioned word in France)
• les chaussures (understood throughout the French-speaking world)

A Restaurant Bill/Check

• une addition (in France)
• une facture (in Quebec)

Now that we are having fun with french slang words, let’s go over the most common French Text Slang. 

Slang used in French ‘textos’ is a lot like English slang. Most of the french slang words are abbreviated common words and expressions. French text slang messages tends to be universal, not regional.

• slt (salut), bjr (bonjour) – hello
• stp (s’il te plaît), svp (s’il vous plaît) – please.
• cad (c’est-à-dire) – that is to say.
• A+ (à plus tard) – see you later.
• pq (pourquoi) – why.
• wétu (où es-tu) – where are you.
• je t’m (je t’aime) – I love you. 

We hope you enjoyed reading this blog on The Most Common French Slang Words. If you wish to read similar blogs, here are some link that you could check out –

• Common British Slang You Should Get Used To In University If You’re Studying In The UK
• British Slang Words You Should Totally Use
• All You Need To Know About Aussie Slang Words

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