Et tu brute?

The most exciting part about speaking a new language is when you get to hear it used casually on the street.  This has been the most educational part of my stay.  Things aren't called what the books taught me to call them or there are some 'faux amis' (the same word in both languages with different meanings) that I wasn't aware of, or even just mannerisms, commonly used mild expletives, phrases and slang.  For instance in every French book they will tell you that window is 'fênetre'; when used here the French understood what I meant but it was like the equivalent of saying 'may I take a ride in your horse-less carriage?'.  Okay maybe it wasn't that wierd but nowadays 'fênetre' means the whole window including the frame around it, so if you want to say window in everyday terms you use the word 'vitre' or sometimes even 'carreau'.  A 'faux amis' I was not aware of was ravioli, which can also mean dumpling; you learn a lot of new French words at Chinese restaurants.

I've listened to how people say 'I'm exhausted' after a long day, different ways to say 'that's awesome', how to sound ed-u-mi-kat-ed when speaking French and describing wine, and used lines from Stromae's new album myself 'foooorrrrrmmmiiiidab-le, nous etions formidable!'.  Although they like to tell me that they enjoy my stiff/proper bookshelf French and enjoy listening to me pronounce my h's (I refuse to say hamburger without an h) and th's ( I once pronounced my middle name Elizabeth several times for the amusement of some friends because the 'th' at the end is breathy and hard for them to pronounce) I love learning the real deal stuff like how to say "dang it" or 'blah blah blah' or 'here kitty kitty' in French.  So I'm going to scatter in some useful French slang or interesting words in the next few posts.  

There are many different types of French slang; most come from the city or region you live in like Normandy, Provence, or Paris.  However there is another type of slang that has an interesting flavor, verlan.  Verlan is similar to pig Latin in English it's a reversal of the syllables in a word.  I don't know about you but I've always hated pig latin, but you pick up on verlan pretty quickly because it is used a lot. It is uber slang, very familiar.  

Some useful words to know:

Louche->chelou (bizarre: in a shady/creepy sense)

Femme->meuf (woman)

Fou->ouf (crazy)

Arabe->beur (arabic person)

T'es bête->teubé (idiot)

Location: Rochefort-du-Gard Rochefort-du-Gard

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