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When starting to learn a language, it obviously makes sense to play safe and begin by learning the kind of words and phrases that everyone will understand and that will not offend anybody.
However, you might sometimes come across situations when what you hear (on television, in films, or with young people) bears little relation to what you have learnt. This can be frustrating but is inevitable since languages are constantly evolving.
The Internet revolution has influenced the French language in recent years, in more ways than one! It has led to the creation of a whole range of new vocabulary - such as 'cliquer' or 'surfer sur internet'. Some long-established words have also taken on new slang meanings. For example, 'tu imprimes?' which literally means 'are you printing?' can mean 'tu comprends?' - 'do you understand?'
'Le verlan' is an aspect of slang that seems to fascinate many people. The word was coined by inverting the syllables of 'l'envers', which means 'reverse'. 'Le verlan' was invented a long time ago and involves inverting syllables of words and simplifying the result if necessary. It was revived in the 1980s when young people from the suburbs decided to use it as a secret language among themselves. Some of these words are now used widely. Here are some examples of 'verlan', so that you can be aware of this kind of slang and even understand some of it. We don't recommend you use it yet!
- une teuf (une fête) - a party
- un keum (un mec) - a guy
- une meuf (une femme) - a woman
- les keufs (les flics) - the cops
- une reub (une bière) - beer
- laisse béton (laisse tomber) - drop it
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