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 thats good if not then Ill personally prefer BabelFish dictionary which is free so you dont 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 fatigu 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'lve 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 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 'z'. The word puis is more commonly pronounced pis, parce que is pronounced pasque, and quelque is pronounced quque. 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 aprs on se fera un cin. We'll go to the restaurant, and then after we'll go to the movies. Pourquoi tu dois m'obir ? Pasque je suis ton pre ! Why must you obey me? Because I'm your father! Y a quque 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 l ? Can we go ? Is everybody here ? C'est pasqu'on est frres que je te fais confiance. It's because we are brothers that I trust you. Pourrait-on acclrer ? 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. a 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, bientt ! A un de ces quat' ! See you soon one of these days! C'est pas vot' problme, c'est not' problme. It's not your problem, it's our problem. Y faut pas t' si bte. 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 o ? Where are we going? Il parle de quoi ? What's he talking about? Pourquoi t'as dit a ? 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, a frequently follows an interrogative to add emphasis, such as in qui a ? or c'est quoi, a ? 8. Forget grammatical rules Sometimes you can forget the grammar rules that you have learned when speaking informally. An example of this is using to show possession (in grammatically correct French, you should use de). On est dans la chambre 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 ramen les livres la mdiathque. 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. Voil 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-a ! 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 Ae ! / Oue ! / Ouille ! Ouch ! Beurk ! Berk ! Yuck! Boum ! Boom! Bang! Chiche ! I dare you! Go ahead! Chut ! Shush! Be quiet! Gla gla! Brrrrrrr! Ho ! / H ! Wow! or Hey! Hol ! Hey! Whoa! Hop l ! 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) - os Common Expressions Je n'en reviens pas - I can't believe it C'est du gteau ! - It's a piece of cake! Revenons nos moutons - Let's get back to the subject a 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 a ne tourne pas rond - Something's wrong C'est pas vrai ! - You're kidding! Ce n'est pas la mer boire - It's not the end of the world C'est pas sorcier - It's not rocket science Je vais jeter un il - I'll take a look a n'a rien voir avec... - That has nothing to do with... a vaut le coup - It's worth it On voit que dalle - You can't see anything a va tre chaud ! It's going to be tough! Tu dois me tirer de l ! - You gotta help me out! 'est parti ! Here we go / we're off ! a gaze ? How are things? What's up? Oh pure ! Oh my goodness! a fait un bail ! It's been a long time ! a craint ! / C'est nul ! - That sucks! Fais voir - Show me / Let me see Je suis prems ! - I'm first! Rien que den parler... - Just talking about it... - ard - osse - ars - ouille - asse - ouse - ace - ouze - oche - uche

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 dbarquer - to arrive without notice dgoter - to find, come up with, dig up encarrer - to enter engueuler - to yell pater / scier - to astonish, surprise tre deux doigts (de faire quelque chose) - to be on the verge (of doing something) tre la bourre - to be in a hurry tre mourir d'ennui - to be very boring faire gaffe - be careful, pay attention farfouiller - to rummage filer - to give, hand over filer 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 repcher - 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 l-bas ? What's he doing over there? / What the hell is he doing over there?? Je n'en ai rien foutre. I don't care. [stronger] / I don't give a damn. Je m'en fous de tes problmes. 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, fake chapeau - bravo, hats off! chelou - shady, suspicious chiant - annoying collant - clingy cradingue / crado - filthy dbile - pathetic, stupid dgueulasse - disgusting djant - oddball dingue / cingl / timbr / givr / barjo - crazy farfelu - eccentric fut - cunning, crafty, sly gnial / chouette - great godiche - silly, awkward gratos - free impec - great, terrific mal barr / mal foutu - "in dire straits" / screwed marrant / rigolo - funny moche - ugly nickel - very clean pas terrible - not good

radin - cheap roublard - devious, cunning sal - expensive sympa - nice, likable vache - mean

Common Intensifiers / Adverbs carrment - 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! espce 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. mre - reum pre - reup femme - meuf mec - keum fte - teuf flic - keuf louche - chelou cher - reuch nerv - vnre 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 norme ! 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 Jai une tignasse frise qui marrive 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 pche / la patate - to be on top of the world, to feel good avoir mal au cur - to feel nauseated / to feel like vomiting gerber / dgueuler - to puke crever / clamser - to die (figuratively), to "croak" avoir mauvaise / bonne mine - to look bad / good tre maigre comme un clou - to be really skinny attraper la crve - to catch a terrible cold tomber dans les pommes / les vapes - to pass out requinquer - to perk up se dbarbouiller - to wash your face l'article de la mort - at death's door bien roule - good body mal fichu - sick l'hosto [l'hpital] - hospital

Emotions & Personalities

crev / lessiv / nase / mort / cass / vann / HS [hors-service] - really tired, exhausted avoir le cafard / le blues / le spleen - to be sad, depressed tre de mauvais poil - to be in a bad mood en avoir marre / en avoir ras-le-bol / en avoir soup - 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 tre accro 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 - to be scared fiche la trouille / frousse quelqu'un - to scare somebody C'est la premire fois qu'une BD me fiche la frousse. That's the first time a comic book scared me. dconner - to joke/mess around se planter - to make a mistake / to fall pter les plombs / pter un cable - to go crazy perdre la boule / les pdales - to lose one's mind s'engueuler / bagarrer - to fight, yell rififi (m) / bagarre (f) - fight racle / sauce / trempe (f) - scolding filer une baffe / une claque / une beigne quelqu'un - to slap someone coller un pain / une mandale / une chataigne / un marron 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 quelqu'un / prendre la tte quelqu'un - to annoy someone tre 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 ptard - to make a fuss Il fait du ptard 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 pain faire chier quelqu'un - to really annoy someone, to piss someone off a me fait chier de refaire une anne, puis encore deux annes 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 ptard - 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 quelqu'un - to get on someone's nerves chambrer / taquiner - 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? Lche-moi les baskets ! - Give me a break! Leave me alone! Ce sont pas tes oignons ! / T'occupe ! - Mind your own business! Laisse bton ! - 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 ce que je sache ! He seems like a nice guy; he's not a showoff as far as I know! lche-bottes (f) - suckup, brown-noser rat (m) - loser dbile / tar - 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 bte noire (f) - pet peeve galre (f) - problem, difficulty donner un coup de main - to give someone a hand / to help someone dpanner quelqu'un - to do someone a favor retirer une pine du pied 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 / dveine / poisse (f) - bad luck guignard(e)(m/f) - unlucky person avoir de la veine - to be lucky branch - with it, hip, cool peinard / pnard - calm, tranquil Cette anne, c'est pnard, mais l'anne 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 grve ! My school is on strike! bizut (m) - freshman / pledge (to a fraternity/sorority) bizutage (m) - hazing bouquin (m) - book bcher / potasser - to study hard, to cram cal en - good/smart in cartonner un examen - to ace an exam chouchou (m) - teacher's pet colle (f) - difficult question coller un lve - to punish a student / give a student detention Mon fils est coll deux heures par son prof de math. My son got two hours of detention from his math teacher. tre coll - 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 tendre / coller un examen - to flunk a test scher 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 sauce (f) - shower se peler les miches - to freeze one's ass off Je suis frileuse et je me ple les miches t 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 connat. She likes to chat and everyone knows her. blaze (m) - name casser les oreilles quelqu'un - to talk someone's ear off chanter comme une casserole - to sing really badly charabia (m) - gibberish charrier - to exaggerate dgoiser - to talk a lot, rattle on djanter - 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 l'ne - 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. rouspter - 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 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 bourr / pt / rond / saoul / dfonc / plein - drunk a fouette - that stinks (said of cheese)

casser la crote - to have a snack On a cass la crote avec une vue magnifique depuis le nord au sud du MontBlanc. We had a snack with a magnificent view from the north to south of Mont Blanc. chaud - tipsy, buzzed chopine (f) - bottle of wine dgueulasse - disgusting gav - stuffed (ate too much) se goinfrer / s'empiffrer / se taper - to pig out gueuleton (m) - feast, huge spread of food Miam ! - Yum! pter - 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 rgaler - to treat, pay repu - full (of food) roter - to burp tituber - to stumble (drunkenly) Il titubait et hurlait dans les couloirs, compltement bourr. He was stumbling and yelling in the hall, completely drunk. tourne (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 mme (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 mre] - mother reup [Verlan for pre] - father ricain(e) - American vieux (m) - parents voyou / gouape - punk, hooligan clbard (m) - mutt, hound piaf (m) - bird

Places & Transportation piaule / crche (f) - bedroom pieu / plumard / pageot (m) - bed crcher - to crash, to live pioncer / roupiller - to sleep truc / machin (m) - a thing, thingamajig bordel (m) / bazar (m) / galre (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 o il n'y a rien 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 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 Bohme] - person with good job and Bohemian lifestyle bote (f) - company bosser - 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) cole de comptabilit - accounting school tre plein aux as - to have a lot of money fric / pognon / bl / des sous / pze / l'oseille (m) - money fauch / sec / raide / dans la dche - broke faux jeton (m) - two-sided, hypocritical (politician) flic / keuf / poulet (m) - cop grippe-sou (f) - penny pincher gyneco [gyncologue] - gynecologist kin [kinsithrapeute] - physiotherapist mettre au clou - to hock, pawn prolo (m) - working class proprio [propritaire] - landlord, landlady psy [psychologue] - psychologist radin - cheap reuch - expensive richard (m) - very wealthy man rmiste (m) - someone who earns the jobseeker's allowance (RMI) sal - expensive (a bill) se faire arnaquer - to get ripped off smicard (m) - someone who earns minimum wage (SMIC) thune (f) - money / coin toubib (m) - doctor turbin (m) - job, daily grind a cote la peau des fesses ! / a douille ! - That's really expensive!

Love & Dating avoir le bguin pour quelqu'un / craquer pour quelqu'un / en pincer pour quelqu'un - to have a crush on someone avoir le coup de foudre - to be in love at first sight 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 kiffer - to like lov - cuddly, snuggly

larguer / plaquer - to leave, dump (a person) mater quelqu'un - to check out (someone) moche - ugly nana / nnette / minette / gonzesse / meuf - woman, girl, chick se remettre de quelqu'un - to get over someone rencard (m) - date rouler un patin / une pelle quelqu'un - to French kiss someone poser un lapin quelqu'un - to stand someone up (for a date) tripoter / peloter - to grope, fondle

Fashion & Shopping baskets (m) - tennis shoes / sneakers bermuda (m) - knee-length shorts body (m) - bodysuit/onesie for a baby costard (m) - suit fringues (f) - clothing futal (m) - pants godasse (f) - shoe jogging / survt / training (m) - jogging suit pbroc / ppin / chamberlain (m) - umbrella pompe (f) - shoe shorty (m) - "boy short" underwear for women string (m) - thong underwear sweat (m) - sweatshirt brushing (m) - blowdry fringu / sap - dressed lifting (m) - face lift rabais - discount relooking (m) - makeover ringard - old fashioned, out of style

Entertainment & Technology clope / sche (f) - cigarette came (f) - drugs dfonc - high bote (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'clater - to have fun

se marrer - to laugh mater la tloche - to watch TV se faire un cin / 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 / calche (f) - jail, slammer maton (m) - prison guard se faire la belle / se carapater - to run away, escape cavale (f) - escape (from prison) ptard (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 mamie / mm - grandma pappy / pp - grandpa tata / tatie - aunt tonton - uncle doudou (m) - favorite stuffed animal / blankie joujoux (m) - toys nounours (m) - teddy bear toto (m) - car lolo (m) - milk minet (m) - kitty toutou (m) - doggy dada (f) - horsie

Proper Names A la tienne, Etienne ! Cheers!

a 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 retrouvs. 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 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 l'ne - to change subjects quickly avoir une mmoire d'lphant - to have a good memory avoir une faim de loup - to be starving marcher pas de loup - to walk silently revenir 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 vipre - a person who often speaks badly of others chercher la petite bte - 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 missaire / le dindon de la farce - scapegoat avoir une araigne au plafond - to have bats in the belfry tre 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 mnager la chvre 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 jetter dans la gueule du loup - to put one's hand in the lion's mouth courir deux livres la fois - to ride two horses at the same time mettre la charue avant les bufs - to put the cart before the horse ce n'est pas un vieux singe qu'on apprend faire des grimaces - you can't teach an old dog new tricks tre hardi comme un coq sur son fumier - to be a showoff avoir une fivre de cheval - to have a high fever

Body Parts
se creuser la tte - 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'il - to make a mistake rester bouche cousue - to not say anything; keep a secret avoir le coeur sur le 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 tte - to pout garder la tte froide - to keep one's calm ne pas avoir froid aux yeux - to not be scared avoir/mettre l'eau la bouche - to want/drool over something rester bouche be - 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 son cou - to leave quickly ne pas lever le nez - to concentrate on something l'il - without paying, for free faire la sourde oreille - to not listen/hear tre bte comme ses pieds - to be stupid mettre les pieds dans le plat - to say/do something stupid coter les yeux de la tte - to cost an arm and a leg se payer la tte 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 tre 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 quelqu'un - to get on someone's nerves manger sur le pouce - to grab a bite to eat enlever une pine du pied 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 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 quatre - quickly dire des quatre vrits 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 tre tir quatre pingles - 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 tre blanc comme un linge - to be white from fear passer une nuit blanche - to spend a sleepless night donner carte blanche quelqu'un - to let someone do what they want tre un cordon bleu - to be a good cook tre fleur bleu - to be sentimental avoir une peur bleue - to be scared stiff tre la bete noire - to be the person that no one likes avoir des ides 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 tre haut comme trois pommes - to be small ne pas tre 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 ufs - to be cheap, a skinflint pdaler dans la semoule - to become insane, senile

c'est la goutte d'eau qui fait dborder la vase - it's the straw that broke the camel's back mettre du beurre dans les pinards - to help financially casser du sucre sur son dos - to spread lies about someone, talk about someone behind his/her back tre dans le ptrin - to be in a jam

Other
tre 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 tre de la dernire pluie - to not be born yesterday pendre la crmaillre - to have a house-warming party vendre la mche - 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 cuillire - to not be subtle about something faire un chque 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 table - to confess, come clean mettre des btons 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'pe dans l'eau - a wasted effort tre 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 comte - to count one's chickens before they have hatched ce n'est pas la mer 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 Prou - 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 dshabiller Pierre pour payer Paul - you shouldn't rob Paul to pay Peter parler quelqu'un brle-pourpoint - to ask someone point-blank raconter des histoires dormir debout - to tell tall tales prendre la poudre d'escampette - to leave quickly tirer son pingle du jeu - to get out of a difficult situation mener en bateau - to lead someone on, to lie