Chapter 18 Slang and Familiar Words and Expressions
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Chapter 18 Slang and familiar words and expressions Ma montre en argent est chez ma tante, car c’est la dèche en ce moment, je n’ai pas un radis. It’s quite a strange phenomenon. Slang enjoys a status in France that English slang does not enjoy in England. French slang has a legitimacy that cuts across social class boundaries in a way I feel English slang does not. Consequently, it is far more present in the French press than an English-speaking person would suppose. Only those meanings that are used in the press are mentioned; thus ‘allumer’ will only be translated by ‘to criticize severely’ and not ‘to sexually arouse’. Several terms may be found in Chapter 4 ‘The top 100 polysemic words’ Frequency is shown by asterisks and the grosser terms are qualified as such. In any case, students would be well advised to exercise caution when using any of the terms below. Depending on the social context in which they find themselves, the use of a slang term could be a real faux-pas. The golden rule should be ‘when in doubt, don’t’. Many familiar expressions involve animals and to avoid repetition, these will be found in the chapter Menagerie at: www.routledge.com/9780367376758. I need to underline that the terms below are those that one may encounter in the press; it is not intended to be a comprehensive list of French slang. This was not the object of the study. The student will find three sections below: • The top 100 slang words one needs to know, arranged alphabetically. To avoid repetition, some of these high frequency terms have been listed in the section where the terms have been arranged by category: money, police, food etc. They are marked with 3 asterisks. • A list of miscellaneous, high-frequency terms in alphabetical order. • Slang and familiar terms arranged by category (1) The top 100 alpaguer vt. (to nab, to collar) arg. arroser vt. (to bribe with money or gifts) bahut nm. (school) balai nm. (year when speaking of age) barboter vt. (to nick, to steal) bavure nf. (serious fault often committed by the police) bazar nm. (mess, shambles) beauf nm. (brother-in-law) bidon adj. (baloney, false, rigged) bidonner vt. (to rig, to falsify) blé nm. (money, dough) bol nm. (luck) bordel nm. (lit. a whorehouse but here, a mess or havoc) vulg. boulette nf. (boob, a clanger) boulot nm. (work, graft) bourde nf. (boob, clanger) breloque nf. (medal, gong) brosse à reluire, manier la nf. (to suck up to, to butter up sb.) caser vtr. (to find a job or a husband for sb.) casquer vi. (to pay, to cough up) casserole nf. (scandal that haunts the guilty party) connerie nf. (stupid act). crâne d’œuf nm. (egghead) culs-bénits nmpl. (Bible thumpers, holy Joes) dare-dare adv. (quickly, at the double) dauber vt. (to denigrate, to badmouth) dégraissage nm. (downsizing, slimming down of the staff) déguster vi. (to suffer) drague nf. (chatting up) draguer vt. (to chat up a woman, to cruise) engueulade nf. (roasting) faux-cul/jeton nm. (two-faced bastard) fayot nm. (crawler) fayotage nm. (crawling) fayoter vi. (to crawl, often to one’s superiors) fiston nm. (son, sonny ; sonny Jim) foutre s’en (not to give a tinker’s cuss, not to give a shit) vulg. flingue nm. (shooter) flinguer (to shoot down fig.) fromage nm. (a cushy number) gaffe nf. (blunder, boob) godillot nm. (a yes man) gorille nm. (bodyguard, a heavy) grisbi nm. (dosh) arg. See Chapter 1 ‘touchez’. gueule nf. (face, mug) hochet nm. (medal, gong) péj. huiles nfpl. (top brass) lèche-botte nm. (an arse-licker, a brown nose) magot nm. (stash, hord) magouille nf. (a dishonest scheme) malabar nm. (a big hulk) pagaille nf. (mess, shambles) pantoufler vi. (to leave the service of the State to work in private enterprise at a higher salary) passer l’arme à gauche vi (to go West, to snuff it). passer à la caisse. vt. (to pay, to pay up) pépin nm. (lit. pip, a hitch, a small problem) piges nfpl. (years when speaking of age) planqué adj. (hidden illegally) planqué nm. (person with a cushy number e.g. in the war) ponte nm. (big cheese, bigwig) pot-de-vin nm. (bribe) pote nm. (chum, pal) Proc’ nm. (le procureur de la République, the public prosecutor) prunes nfpl. (years when speaking of age, parking tickets) salades nfpl (lies, porkies) salée adj. (steep, for a bill) toubib nm. (doctor) See Chapter 13 ‘toubib’ trouille nf. (fear) truc nm. (a widget, a whatsit, a thingumajig) tuile nf. (a piece of bad luck) vacherie nf. (nastiness, a dirty trick) virer vt. (to dismiss, to kick out) zinc nm. (aeroplane) (2) Miscellaneous terms bâcler vt. ** (to botch the work) bail nm. ** (a long time !) balader vt.***. (to lead sb. up the garden path etc.) barbus nmpl. ** (muslim fundamentalists) barrer se v.pron. * (to scarper, to beat it) bassiner vt. ** (to bore, to plague) berzingue, à tout, loc. adv. *** (like the clappers) beurre nm. compter pour du** (to count for nothing) bibi nm.** (yours truly, muggins) bidouiller vt. ** (to fiddle, to tinker with) bidule nm. ** (a widget, a thingumyjig) binette nf.*** (face, mug) bisbille nf. *(petty quarrel, tiff) blairer vt. * ( ‘je ne peux pas le blairer’ I can’t stand the sight of him) bled nm.** ( place, dump, hole) See Chapter 14 ‘bled’. bouillon de onze heures nm.* (a poisoned drink, a lethal potion) boîte nf. *** (commercial or industrial company, possibly a nigh-club) bosser vi. *** (to graft) bouquin nm. *** (book) bourrer, se v. pronom.** (se bourrer les poches to fill one’s pockets) branleur nm. ** (a loser, a slacker) vulg. caisse nf.* (car) canasson nm. *(an old horse, a nag) carabiné adj. * (j’ai une grippe carabinée, I’ve got a stinking dose of flu) casquette nf. **(rôle or function) casse-gueule adj. *** (dangerous) casse-pieds adj. ** (a pain in the neck/arse) casser du sucre sur le dos vt.** (to badmouth sb. behind his/her back) casser sa pipe loc.verb.** (to croak, to kick the bucket) cerises nfpl. ** (years of age) charrette nf. ** (a group of people made redundant) chopper, se faire v.pron.* (to get nabbed) choper vt. ** (to catch sb. or a chill) ciboulot nm.* (head, en avoir dans le ciboulot = to have brains) cinoche nm. ** (cinema, movies) cirage de pompes nm. *** (boot-licking) claque nf. *** (avoir sa claque = ‘I’ve had it up to here) clébard nm. ** (dog, pooch) clope nm. ** (fag) clou nm. ** (ne pas valoir un clou. not to be worth anything) contredanse nf. *** (parking ticket/fine) costard nm.** (suit) coup de gueule nm. *** (pousser un coup de gueule to hit the roof) coup de pompe nm.* (to suddenly feel knackered) coup fourré nm. *** (a dirty trick) coup tordu n.m. ** (a dirty trick) crédit municipal nm. ** (municipal pawnbroker) croquer vi.** (to take one’s share dishonestly) arg. croûte nf. ** (third-rate painting) cucu la praline adj. * (simple, foolish) culotté adj. *** (to have a nerve) dada nm. *** (a gee-gee i.e. ‘a horse, or a pet idea) déballage nm. *** (spilling the beans) débarquer vi.** (to arrive unannounced or not to be aware of a given situation Il débarque!) débarquer vt. *** (to fire, to get rid of.) déconner vi. ** (to fool around) décrocher la timbale/pompon vt. ** (to win the big prize) dégagez imp. *** (clear off, beat it!) dégonflé nm. *** (to have cold feet) dégringolade nf. *** (collapse e.g. in share prices) dur de la feuille adj.* (deaf, hard of hearing) emmerdes nfpl. *** (problems, trouble, hassles) emmerdeur nm. *** (pain in the arse) encaisser vi. * (to take blows courageously) enculé nm.* (prick, wanker) vulg. engueuler vt. *** (to ball sb. out, to give sb. a roasting) épingler vtr. *** (to nab sb) fagoter vt. *** (mal fagoté means badly dressed) fainéant nm. and adj.*** (loafer, idler) faire rouler, se v. pron. *** (to be taken for a ride) feignant nm. *** (loafer, idler) feuille de chou nf. *** (rag, newspaper) fils de pute nm. ** (son of a bitch, SOB) vulg. flanqué *** (accompanied by one person on either side) flopée nf. *** (a bunch of, tons of) fourguer vt. **** (to unload, palm off, flog) foutage de gueule nm. *** (kidding, piss-taking) foutre en l’air loc. ** (to screw up, to bugger up) foutre le camp vt.* (to bugger off, to scarper) foutre, rien à *** (not to give a shit.) fraise nf. * (pour ma fraise means ‘for me’, ‘for muggins’) fricoter vi.* (to be involved in some shady business) fripes nf.* (togs, old clothes) gabelou nm.* (originally a salt-tax collector…la gabelle. Now a pejorative term for a customs officer) gamberger vi.** (to think hard, to brood) arg. gars nm. ** (bloke) glander vi. ** (to bum around, to hang around) glandouilleur nm. ** (loafer) goberger (se) v.pron. ** (to indulge oneself) godasse nf. ** (shoe, beatle crusher, clodhopper) gomme nf. ** (mettre la gomme means ‘to accelerate, to put one’s foot down, to step on it’) gonflette nf.* (pumping iron, body building) grande gueule nf.* (big mouth, loudmouth) grappe nf.* (lâcher la grappe à qqn, ‘to get off sb’s back’) grappiller vi. ** (to fiddle, to pick up, to glean) gratin nm. **(the upper crust) grenouille de bénitier nm. ** (a Bible thumper, a holy Joe) grogne nf. *** (simmering discontent) gros bonnet nm. ** (a big shot, a bigwig) gros bras nm. *** (bodyguard) grosse légume nf. *** (big shot) NB ‘légume’ is masculine! gueulante nf. *** (pousser une, ‘to hit the roof’) gueule nf. ** (avoir de la gueule ‘to have something in terms of style’) gueule, faire la ** (to sulk) gueule, en prend plein la nf. *** (to get a mouthful from sb.) gueule nf.