The French You Don’t Learn at School – Part II

A few months ago I wrote a post about the French you don’t learn at school, intended to make my friends laugh and hopefully teach them some typical Parisian phrases at the same time. We learn a lot of expressions at school that the Parisians don’t really use anymore and I wanted to shed some light on the French that is spoken around the city. The blog was a huge success and had over 3,000 views in one day! Many of you asked me to do a second article, so here is the French you don’t learn at school – part II!

What the French say: C’est naze
What we learn at school: C’est nul
What it means: It’s rubbish/lame

What the French say: J’ai pas de tune
What we learn at school: Je n’ai pas d’argent
What it means: I’m broke/skint, I have no money

What the French say: Je suis une quiche en cuisine
What we learn at school: Je suis nulle en cuisine
What it means: I’m terrible at cooking!

What the French say: Un gosse
What we learn at school: Un enfant
What it means: A child/kid

What the French say: Un beau gosse
What we learn at school: Un homme beau
What it means: A good-looking guy

What the French say: Je kiffe ton nouvel album
What we learn at school: J’aime beaucoup ton nouvel album
What it means: I really like your new album

What the French say: C’est ouf! (verlan)
What we learn at school: C’est fou/dingue!
What it means: That’s crazy!

What the French say: C’était hyper cool!
What we learn at school: C’était très cool!
What it means: It was really really cool!

What the French say: Quel bordel!
What we learn at school: Quel basard!
What it means: What a (bloody) mess!

What the French say: Punaise!
What we learn at school: Mince!
What it means: Literally a ‘punaise’ is a type of bug such
as a bed bug or stink bug. However in French slang it means jeez or gosh! 

I hope this blog helps you to learn a few more phrases to add to your slang bank! Enjoy and feel free to comment or share!

Click here to see the first French You Don’t Learn at School post!