10 French Slang Words To Sound Like A Local

French slang words can be tricky to get the hang of. In fact, it can sound like a different language. Arriving to France without a grasp of the lingo can be confusing, especially if you’ve only ever studied it in school.

While different cities and regions have different slang, there’s a general French slang that’s spoken all across the country. This is the lingo that’s not taught in your language class. Verlan, which is actually the French word à l’envers backwards or “reversed”, is spoken by younger people, inverting words and syllables to make new slang. Argot is regular slang.

Here’s a list of 10 commonly used slang words in France. You’ll be speaking like a local in no time.

10 Common French Slang Words

1. Ça baigne? Ça baigne! = Ça va? Ça va!

Ça baigne is a cooler way to ask someone how they are, or say you’re all good.

2. Oklm = Au Calme

If you follow any French people on Instagram, you’ve surely seen #oklm. The phonetic acronym of the phrase au calme was made popular by French rapper Booba in his 2014 single. Basically, it means ‘chill’.

3. Avoir Le Seum = Really Annoyed

This is proper Parisian slang, and basically translates to ‘really pissed off’.

4. Tromé = Metro

A classic example of verlan! Think: tro–mé, which is the verlan of mé–tro.

5. Une Clope = A Cigarette

Hey, it’s France, so chances of someone asking for a smoke is high.

6. Meuf/Reuf/Keuf = Mother/Brother/Police

‘Meuf’ and ‘reuf’ are verlan inverses of femme and frère, and ‘keuf’ is the inverse of the slang word for police – flic. It’s slang inception.

Listen to rapper Rohff: Une keuf meuf, ou se faire poucave par son propre reuf.” (A female cop, who got snitched out by her brother).

7. Frais/fraîche = Cool

This is just how English speakers use the word ‘fresh’. Eg. that new jacket is looking fresh!

8. Sans déc = Duh!

This is the shortened slang version of sans déconner, which is a semi-rude way of saying you’re not kidding, or ‘no shit’. If you want to be more polite, say sans blague (no joke).

9. Bosser = To Work

Bosser is a casual version of the verb ‘to work’, travailler.

10. C’est Nul = That Sucks

You can also say c’est nul à chier (it really sucks).