If you’ve ever listened to French people chatting informally, you’ll know that much of what they say doesn’t appear in textbooks. Here’s a practical list of French slang expressions you’re likely to hear — all with phonetic pronunciation and clear English meanings.

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🗣️ Table of French Slang Expressions

French Expression	Pronunciation (approx.)	Meaning in English
À chier	AH SHEE AY	Lame, rubbish
À fond	AH FOn	Totally, at full speed
À la bourre	AH LAH BOOR	Running late
À l’ouest	AH LOO EST	Out of it, spaced out
Arrête de flipper	AH RET DEr FLEE PAY	Stop freaking out
Arrête de te la péter	AH RET DEr TEr LA PAY TAY	Stop showing off
Avoir la dalle	AH VWAHR LAH DAHL	To be starving
Avoir la flemme	AH VWAHR LAH FLEM	To be lazy
Avoir le seum	AH VWAHR LAH SERM	To be angry or “pissed”
Avoir un coup de barre	AH VWAHR Un KOO DEr BAR	To feel suddenly tired
Avoir un coup de foudre	AH VWAHR Un KOO DEr FOODR	Love at first sight
Avoir un creux	AH VWAHR Un KREr	To be hungry
Balance	BAH LOnSS	To snitch or betray someone
Barre-toi !	BAR TWAH!	Get lost!
BCBG	BAY SAY BAY JAY	Posh, chic (bon chic, bon genre)
Beau gosse	BOH GOSS	Handsome guy
Bobo	BOH BOH	Trendy middle-class person
Bon app’	BON APP	Enjoy your meal
Boire un coup	BWAHR Un KOO	To have a drink
Bordel !	BOR DELL	Damn! / What a mess!
Bouffer	BOO FAY	To eat
Casser la croûte	KAH SAY LAH KROOT	To eat (to break the crust)
C’est bof	SAY BOFF	It’s terrible / meh
C’est clair	SAY CLAIR	You don’t say / totally
C’est chaud	SAY SHOH	That’s tough / risky
C’est cool	SAY COOL	It’s nice / fine
C’est craignos	SAY KRAY NYOS	It sucks
C’est dans la poche	SAY DOn LAH POSH	A done deal
C’est dégueu	SAY DAY GEr	It’s disgusting
C’est galère	SAY GAH LAIR	It’s a pain / hassle
C’est naze	SAY NAHZ	It sucks, it’s boring
C’est nul	SAY NUUL	That sucks
C’est ouf !	SAY OOF	That’s crazy!
C’est relou	SAY REr LOO	It’s annoying / lame
C’est trop la honte	SAY TROH LAH ONT	It’s so embarrassing
Ça baigne ?	SAH BAYNYEr	How are you? / All good?
Ça craint	SAH KRAn	Not cool, it sucks
Ça déchire !	SAH DAY SHEER	That’s awesome!
Ça marche	SAH MARSH	Ok, it works
Ça me saoule	SAH MEr SOOL	That pisses me off
Chiant / chiante	SHEE On/SHEE OnT	Annoying
Chouette !	SHOO ETT	Great!
Coup de fil	KOO DEr FEEL	Phone call
Crever la dalle	KREV AY LAH DAHL	To be starving
Cul sec	KUU SEK	To drink the whole glass at once
Du coin	DU KWAnn	From around here
Être à la bourre	ETR AH LA BOOR	To be running late
Être au taquet	ETR OH TAH KAY	To be on fire / energetic
Être crevé	ETR KREV AY	To be exhausted
Être dans le coaltar	ETR DOn LEr KOHL TAR	To be half-asleep
Être dans le pâté	ETR DOn LEr PAH TAY	Groggy / out of it
Être vénère	ETR VAY NAIR	To be angry
Fais gaffe	FAY GAFF	Watch out
Faire la gueule	FAIR LAH GErL	To sulk
Faire la teuf	FAIR LAH TErF	To party
Faire la tronche	FAIR LAH TROnSH	To have a long face
Flasher sur quelqu’un	FLUSHAY SUUR KEL KUn	To have a crush
Foutre le bordel	FOOTR LEr BORDEL	To make a mess
Gueule de bois	GErL DEr BWAH	Hangover
Il/elle capte rien	EEL/ELL KAPT REE Ann	He/she doesn’t get anything
J’ai la flemme	JAY LAH FLEM	I’m lazy
Je kiffe	JEr KEEF	I love / I’m into it
Je me casse	JEr MEr KUSS	I’m out of here
Je m’en fous	JEr MOn FOO	I don’t care
Je pète la dalle	JEr PET LAH DAHL	I’m starving
Je suis crevé(e)	JEr SWEE KREVAY	I’m exhausted
Je suis grillé(e)	JEr SWEET GREE YAY	I’ve been caught
Kiffer	KEE FAY	To love / enjoy
La vache !	LAH VAHSH	OMG
Lâche-moi la grappe	LUSH MWAH LAH GRAHP	Leave me alone
Lâcher une caisse	LAH SHAY UUN KESS	To fart
Laisse tomber	LESS TOm BAY	Let it go / drop it
Les doigts dans le nez	LAY DWAH DOn LEr NAY	Piece of cake
Mon œil !	MOn NEr EE!	I don’t believe it
N’importe nawak	NAm PORT NAH WUK	Shenanigans
N’importe quoi	NAm PORTEr KWAH	Nonsense
Nickel !	NEE KELL	Perfect
Ouais	WAY	Yeah
Pas de souci	PAH DEr SOO SEE	No worries
Pas mal de	PAH MAHL DEr	Many
Péter un câble	PAYTAY Unh KAB LEr	Freak out
Pote	POT	Mate, buddy
Poser une colle	POH ZAY UUN KOLL	To ask a tricky question
Poulet	POOLAY	Cop
Point barre	PWAnn BAR	Period / full stop
Relou	REr LOO	Annoying / lame
Sans déconner	SOn DAYKONNAY	No joke / seriously
Se bourrer la gueule	SEr BOORAY LAH GErL	To get drunk
Se casser	SEr KAH SAY	To leave
Se peler	SEr PEr LAY	To be freezing
Se planter	SEr PLOn TAY	To make a mistake
T’inquiète	TAn KEE ET	No worries / don’t worry
Tomber dans les pommes	TOm BAY DOn LAY POM	To faint
Truc de ouf	TRUUC DEr OOF	Crazy thing
Vas-y mollo	VAH ZEE MOH LOH	Take it easy
Zut !	ZUUT!	Darn!

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✍️ Notes for Learners

• Most of these are informal; some (like bordel or se bourrer la gueule) are considered very casual or mildly rude, so use them only with close friends.
• Pronunciations are approximate, designed for Australian English speakers.
• Expressions like relou, ouf, and vénère are verlan — a kind of French back-to-front slang popular among younger speakers.