The French You Don’t Learn in School: Verlan

Even after studying French for nine years, it was only until the last year or two that I heard of Verlan. Verlan is a type of French slang (argot), coming from the inversion of syllables in the French language. The word Verlan comes from à l’envers, which in French means “the wrong way/inverse.” Verlan when broken by syllables is vers-l’en, again showing its origination from l’envers (the “s” sound is silent). While I am definitely not an expert in this type of slang, it is so interesting to have to decode the words and to hear how useful they are in typical conversations. If you want to learn more Verlan you can definitely find so many resources online and on Youtube. 

Verlan began during the time of Voltaire, as well as during WW2 as a secretive language for the French to utilize against their enemies. It started to become popular in poorer neighborhoods of Paris in the 1960s. In 1977, a song “Laisse Béton” was released. The phrase laisse béton, although not used very much anymore, is Verlan for the well-known phrase laisse tomber, meaning let it be. Not every word has a Verlanized slang word, but many everyday words do. Today, Verlan is extremely common and is found in pop culture in many shows, films, and music. For example, the popular singer Stromae’s name is Verlan, from the word maestro. My understanding is that today Verlan is most popular in oral conversations with younger generations (especially teenagers), but you certainly hear and see many of these words all of the time, so it is useful for everyone to know. With that said, below I will share some of the Verlan words that I have learned. Feel free to comment if you know any others:) 

• ouf: from the word “fou”, meaning crazy

Example: Le concert était vraiment ouf, j’adore ses chansons. The concert was really crazy, I love his/her songs.

• cimer: from the word “merci”, meaning thank you
• meuf: from the word “femme”, meaning woman/girl

Example: J’ai un rdv avec une meuf. I have a rdv (rendez-vous/meeting) with a girl.

• chelou: from the word “louche”, meaning sketchy or weird

Example: Mon meilleur ami ne me parle pas du tout ce mois-ci, c’est chelou. My best friend didn’t talk to me at all this month, it’s sketchy/weird/shady.

• relou: from the word “lourd”, meaning heavy (as in a lot on your shoulders, not physical weight)

Example: Elle l’a trompé, trop relou l’histoire qu’il m’a dit aujourd’hui.

• vénère: from the word “énervé”, meaning angry

Example: On est vénère que le prof ne fasse rien. 

• keuf: from the word “flic”, meaning cop

Example: Attends, je vois les keufs, ralentis! Wait, I see the cops, slow down!

(Apparently keuf was becoming too common in France, and even police started to catch on to this slang, so the word has been re-Verlanized again and you may here “feuk” as an alternative).

• téma: from the word “mater”, meaning to watch/look

Example: Téma, c’est sur la télé. Look, it’s on the TV.

• tromé: from the word “Metro”
• reuf: from the word “frère”, meaning brother 

Example: Lui, c’est mon reuf. Him, that’s my brother.

• reum: from the word “mère”, meaning mother
• reup: from the word “père”, meaning father
• teuf: from the word “fête”, meaning party

Example: Y a un teuf ce soir chez eux? Is there a party at their house tonight?