Street French: slang and verlan

French slang is the register French people use with friends: everyday words like mec (guy), pote (mate) and fric (cash), plus verlan, which flips a word's syllables (femme becomes meuf). None of it is rude. All of it belongs with the people you call tu.

The everyday slang words

The ten you will hear first, beside the textbook word they replace.

In a sentence:

• le mec dans le bus - the bloke on the bus
• C'est mon mec. - He's my boyfriend.
• J'ai pas de fric. - I'm skint.
• Allez, au boulot ! - Right, back to work!
• On bouffe où ce soir ? - Where are we eating tonight?
• Passe-moi le truc. - Pass me the thingy.

Truc is the one to learn first: it is the noun you reach for the instant the real one will not come.

Informal, not rude: who to say it to

The question with slang is never "is it polite?" but "who am I talking to?". Here is one sentence moving from textbook to street:

12

1. 1Salut, ça va ?
2. 2Bonjour, madame.

The same speaker, two registers: Salut, ça va ? (Hi, how are things?) to a friend her own age; Bonjour, madame. (Good morning, madam.) to an older stranger. Slang belongs with the first.

Slang goes with tu. Mixing registers sounds stranger than either one alone:

• Excusez-moi, monsieur, vous avez du fric ? - a formal vous with a street word: odd.
• Excusez-moi, monsieur, vous avez de l'argent ? - consistent and polite.