In this video, we will talk about the 27 expressions and slang words to know to improve your French. These expressions are used in everyday life by many French people and can be the source of many confusions if you don't know them!

French expressions used

• It's amazing
• Doing something on the fly
• Food
• To have the slab
• Shout out
• Chelou
• Relou
• Beauf
• Cigarette
• Having the willies
• Soum Soum
• Chanmé
• Dude
• Girlfriend
• Being jumped
• Blase
• Pecho
• Mater
• Reuch
• Daron
• Tune
• Worship
• Fringe
• Cheum
• Flic
• Paname

Transcript

Hello everyone. Today we are going to learn 27 expressions in French slang. Slang is colloquial French. As you will see, many of these expressions and words are in fact slang. Slang is a way of speaking that consists in reversing the syllables. We will say a word backwards.

• Let's start right away with the expression, with the word "it's amazing"! "ouf" is crazy, in verlan, so in reverse language. We use the word ouf to talk about a situation or a person, or even sometimes about something. So for example, you can say I beat Usain Bolt in the 100 meters, it's crazy, it's exceptional, it's incredible. You can also say, I saw Céline Dion in concert, she is amazing, to say that she is great, that you love her. You can also use it for food for example and say "this chocolate cake is amazing", to say that it is delicious.

• The second expression is "do something on the fly". When we say that we do something in a hurry, it means that we do it in a hurry, badly. For example, you can say: "I did my French homework in a hurry" to say that you did it at the last minute, not very well, that you botched it. You can also say, "I left home without my jacket, I left in a hurry." So you left in a hurry, in a rush. 

• The third expression is from food. De la bouffe is simply a colloquial word for food or a meal. You can say, "Shall we have a little chow tonight?" to say, "Shall we have dinner tonight?". You can also say, for example, "What do you want for food?" To say what food do you want? So the word chow is declined into the verb chow. So you can say I'm eating, you're eating, he's eating to say that someone or you are eating. 

• The fourth expression is have the slab. When you are hungry, it means that you are really hungry. For example, you can say "I'm so hungry, I didn't eat anything at lunch" to say that you didn't have time to eat this lunch and that you are really hungry.

• The fifth word is a verb, it is weep. Crying simply means crying. You can say "this movie is really sad, I cried from the beginning to the end", you didn't stop crying.

• The next word is the word chelou. In slang, chelou means shady. So it is used to describe someone or a situation that is suspicious. For example, you can say "look at that boy over there with his hair down to the floor, he's really weird". For example, you can say "he's eating his sushi with a spoon, that's really weird", that's really weird, nobody does that. 

• The next word is the word relou. We use this word to describe someone or a situation that is annoying. So a slacker is going to be someone who is very, very heavy. For example, you can say "this boy sends me 10 messages a day, he's a real slob". You can't stand this person anymore. For example, if you hate cooking, you can say "we're going to a restaurant, I don't feel like cooking, it's boring". So it's really that you don't feel like doing this task. 

• The next word is the word beauf. A beauf is an expression used to describe a French person who is not very cultured, not very classy. So, we use it to qualify a person. Generally, this person will also be quite vulgar, make jokes that are a bit embarrassing. So for example, you can say: "What a redneck, he wears socks in his sandals and constantly eats chips in front of the television". So he's not very classy, not very educated. In reality, the word redneck comes from the word brother-in-law. So it's going to be your wife's or husband's brother. In France, it is a character who is not very appreciated, who is often made fun of. So we will caricature him, exaggerate his features or his defects. 

• The next word is the word cigarette. A cigarette is simply a cigarette. You can ask someone, "Don't you have a cigarette? I feel like smoking."

• The following expression is have the willies. When you have the shakes, it is because you have experienced a situation and you are really not happy. For example, you can say I'm really pissed off, this is the third time I've lost my cell phone. 

• The next expression is to do something by submit submit. Soum soum is actually from the word submarine, it means that you do something quietly, that no one sees you. So for example, you can say "I asked my girlfriend what she wanted for her birthday in soum", she has no idea what I was doing. 

• The next word is chamé. When we say that something is good, it means that it is great, that it is top, it is extraordinary. For example, you can say to someone "your business idea is a success", you are sure that he will succeed in the business he is doing, it is a great project. For example, you can say to someone "your business idea is changed", you think he has a great business idea to create or for example, you can also say "the last movie of Scorsese is changed", it is extraordinary, exceptional.

• The next term is the word a guy. The word guy is used to talk about boys in general or a boyfriend. So, for example, you can say "tonight I'm going to a restaurant with my guy" to say that you are going to a restaurant with your lover. You can also say "look at that guy over there, he's weird" to say that a boy in the distance is a little weird. There are also many slang words for a boy. For example the guy or the keum. Keum is simply the verlan of guy. 

• The next word is the word a chick. A chick is simply the feminine of a guy. Like the word guy, you can use the word chick to describe your girlfriend, your lover or any girl. So you can say "tonight I'm going to a restaurant with my girl" or "look at that girl over there, she's very pretty". There are many other slang words for a girl, for example, you can also say a go or a zouz.

• The following slang expression is to be jumped. Literally, it means that someone poured sauce on you. In reality, it is used to say that you are very happy with a situation or something that has happened to you. For example, you can say, "I'm so happy, I got ten out of ten on my French exam. You did very well, so you are very happy. 

• The next term is a blase. A blase is a nickname, it's the way people call you. For example, you can say "My name is John, but everyone calls me John. That's my nickname". So it's how they call you. 

• The following expression is pick up. Pécho in slang means to catch, to grab. You can use it to talk about an object. So you want to, for example, peck the remote control to change the channel. But in everyday language, it is also used to say that you have kissed someone. For example, you might say, "Yesterday at the party, I fangirled Natalie. It means you kissed her. 

• The next word is a verb, it is the verb mater. In reality, the word mater means to subdue someone, to force them to do something. But in slang, it is used to say that you are staring at someone. For example, you can say "this boy keeps staring at all the girls who pass by, he looks at them insistently". 

• The next term is the word boloss. A boloss is someone who you think sucks, or is a little nerdy, or just did something that you thought sucked. It's not necessarily to qualify them as a person. For example, you might say, "My boyfriend forgot my birthday again, what a jerk. So you think he has an inappropriate attitude, really bad. But you can also use it to qualify someone. For example, to say "look at the way he dresses, he's really a loser". Because you think he dresses very badly, in a cheesy way.

• The following expression is the word reuch. We use the word reuch to say that something is really, really expensive, very expensive. So for example you can say "the bread in this bakery costs 18 euros, that's really very reuch." To say that it's overpriced. 

• The next term is the darlings. Les darons is a slang word used to talk about parents. Moreover, to qualify the father, one will say the daron. And for the mother, we say the daronne. So, for example, you can say "I'm 30 years old and I still live with my darlings, I would like to find my own apartment" to say that you still live with your parents. 

• The next term is of the tune. Money is simply money. Money is probably one of the words that has the most other words in slang to describe it. So if you hear about money, money, money, money, money, these are other words for money in slang.

• The following expression is to be revered. Venerable is simply pissed off in slang again. So, it means that you are very angry about a situation or at someone. For example, you might say, "I missed the bus, I'm so pissed off, I'm going to be late for school. You are very, very upset about the situation. 

• The following expression is the word clothing. Clothes are clothes. This word also has a verb, the verb to dress. So you can say for example: "Your clothes are so stylish where did you buy them?", to say that someone has nice clothes. You can use the verb to dress, for example, in the following way "I dress every morning in the same way" you dress every day in the same way. 

• The following expression is the word cheum. When you say that someone is cheum, you mean that you find them very, very ugly, not beautiful at all, not to your taste. So for example, you might say, "That boy sitting over there with his hair down to the floor is really cheum." So you don't find him beautiful.

• The next term is the word cop. A cop is a slang word for a policeman, so don't use that expression in front of them, they might not be very happy. So for example, you can say, "I had a big party and the cops showed up because the music was too loud." 

• And finally, the last word we will see today is the term Paname. If a French person talks to you about Paname or talks about going to Paname, he is simply talking about going to Paris. 

Thank you for watching this video, I hope you enjoyed it. Feel free to comment on any slang words you don't understand and would like to learn. If you want to see more videos, podcasts or content, please visit www.hellofrench.com

See you soon.