Did you ever try speaking in a secret code language when you were young?<\/p>\n
As French learners, you can look into French’s verlan<\/i><\/strong>. <\/i>This\u00a0used to be a secret language but is now popular slang, especially among younger people.<\/p>\n Verlan<\/i><\/b> involves simply reversing the syllables of French words\u2014for example, merci<\/i> to cimer. <\/i><\/p>\n Learn some more of it with this guide, which takes you through how French\u00a0verlan<\/em> works plus common vocabulary!<\/p>\n [fluentu-toc]<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Verlan<\/strong><\/em>, which is actually the French word \u00e0 l’envers<\/strong><\/em> backwards or “reversed” (that’s what it translates to), is a form of Pig Latin that French speakers use in everyday talk\u2014way, way more than an English speaker would ever use Pig Latin in their entire life.<\/p>\n It all began when French people chose to speak in code to hide information from social control and police forces. The information exchanged was usually related to illegal instances, but now the style of speaking in verlan has stuck. It\u2019s now a cooler, cryptic slang that\u2019s actively practiced by the younger French population\u2014and it even found its way into music, like French hip hop and rap.<\/p>\n Verlan is actually much easier and faster to learn than regular French slang (argot). Yes, key word: faster.<\/p>\n Once you get the hang of it, it’ll be easy as pie, so here are 10 French words verlanis\u00e9s<\/strong><\/em> to help get you started in the world of verlan \u00e0 l’envers<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n C\u00e9fran<\/em><\/strong> is categorized under the novice level of verlan<\/em>. C\u00e9<\/strong>–fran<\/strong><\/em>, as you can see, is the reversal of the syllables in\u00a0fran\u00e7ais<\/em>.<\/em> By breaking up the word\u00a0fran\u00e7ais<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>at its syllables,\u00a0fran-\u00e7ais<\/em><\/strong>, you get c\u00e9<\/strong>–fran<\/strong><\/em>, c\u00e9fran<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n C’est un\u00a0c\u00e9fran\u00a0<\/strong>?\u00a0<\/em>(Is he French?)<\/p>\n Similiar to c\u00e9fran<\/em>, trom\u00e9<\/em> <\/strong>is on the beginner’s side. It’s a two syllable word, tro<\/strong>–m\u00e9<\/strong><\/em>, which is the verlan<\/em>\u00a0of m\u00e9<\/strong><\/em>–tro<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n Trom\u00e9<\/strong><\/em> is used almost all the time. You’ll hear it on the metro (duh), at parties or with friends who are familiar speaking to each other like this.<\/p>\n Vous \u00eates arriv\u00e9s\u00a0ici en trom\u00e9\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>? (Did you come here by metro?).<\/p>\n Another one of those easy, peasy, lemon squeezy verlanis\u00e9<\/em> words!\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Mer<\/em><\/strong>–ci<\/em>\u00a0becomes\u00a0ci<\/strong>–mer<\/strong><\/em>. Merci<\/em><\/strong> is also only made up of two syllables, and because no accent is needed, it could perhaps be the utmost effortless word of verlan.<\/em>\u00a0I’m not going to translate this one into English for you because, well, you should know what merci<\/em><\/strong> means!<\/p>\n You’ll hear c<\/strong><\/em>imer<\/em><\/strong> fluidly used by numerous young fran\u00e7ais<\/em>. I’d consider it the most used\u00a0verlan<\/em> word of all.<\/p>\n T’es\u00a0g\u00e9nial, cimer<\/strong> !<\/em> (You’re awesome, thank you!).<\/p>\n Vous \u00eates fou!<\/em>\u00a0If you never heard of this one before, fou<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0is the regular word in French for “crazy.”<\/p>\n This one might look tricky because it’s a short word with two vowels next to each other. I’m sure you’ve conceived that the breaking up of syllables involves splitting a word up at its vowels, but in the case of three-letter verlan<\/em> words, there’s an exception.<\/p>\n Here’s how it looks:\u00a0f<\/i><\/b>–0<\/i><\/b>u<\/strong> <\/em>becomes ou<\/em><\/strong>–f<\/em><\/strong>. In this case you break up the vowels together<\/em> and take the ending pair of letters and move them to the beginning of the word: fou <\/strong>–<\/em>\u00a0ouf<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n The reason for this exception is due to the major element of sound. Ouf<\/strong> s<\/em>ounds more like fou<\/em><\/strong> backwards [foo – oof]\u00a0than (uof)\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>would.<\/p>\n Like cimer<\/em>, ouf<\/em><\/strong> is also really, really common. A funny popular everyday expression using the verlanis\u00e9 of\u00a0fou<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>aka ouf<\/em><\/strong>\u00a0is:<\/p>\n \u00a0T<\/em>ruc de ouf<\/strong>.<\/em>\u00a0(That’s crazy or it’s crazy).<\/p>\n C’\u00e9tait un truc de ouf <\/strong>!<\/em> (It was crazy!).<\/p>\n Truc<\/em> translates to “thing” in French, and it stands for literally any old thing. Anything can be a truc<\/em>. Try to remember this expression for next time and you’ll blow all your classmates, comrades and colleagues away!<\/p>\n Like to ouf<\/em>, moi<\/strong><\/em> or oim<\/em><\/strong> is broken up the same way, via rule exception.<\/p>\n Again, the “M” or letter without a vowel stands alone in the break-up reversal. M<\/strong><\/em>–oi<\/strong> <\/em>becomes oi<\/em><\/strong>–m<\/strong><\/em>. The reason is for priority of sound. Oim<\/strong><\/em> sounds more like m<\/strong><\/em>oi<\/strong><\/em> backwards than iom\u00a0<\/em>would.<\/p>\n Viens chez oim<\/strong> !\u00a0<\/em>(Come to my place!).<\/p>\n The envers<\/em>\u00a0(reverse) of femme<\/strong>,<\/em> which I hope you know translates to “woman” is meuf<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Meuf<\/strong> <\/em>is considered a more advanced word to verlaniser<\/em>. You may be confused as to how femme<\/em><\/strong> becomes meuf<\/strong><\/em>, but here’s how the verlanis\u00e9 <\/em>of it looks:<\/p>\n Femme<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2192 fe<\/strong><\/em>–mme <\/strong><\/em>\u2192\u00a0mme<\/strong><\/em>–fe<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2192 mmefe<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2192 meuf<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n I know that even after this step-by-step explanation you still might not understand why f<\/strong>emme<\/strong><\/em> becomes\u00a0meuf,<\/strong><\/em> but as I mentioned before, sound<\/em> is a number one rule!<\/p>\n When you try to say femme<\/em><\/strong> backwards by using the literal reversal (mmefe)<\/em>, it does not work whatsoever! The addition of the “U” and dropping the final “E” make meuf<\/strong><\/em> ring more like femme<\/em><\/strong> backwards.<\/p>\n Always remember that this is a language game, and that rules can be a little topsy turvy. That goes for any language in general. It’s just something that you’re supposed to know or memorize!<\/p>\n These next three verlan<\/em> words on the list are going to apply the same rule as the one found in femme<\/em>.<\/p>\n Fr\u00e8re<\/strong><\/em>, which is the word for “brother” in French, as you see, gets verlanis\u00e9<\/em> into reuf<\/strong><\/em>.<\/p>\n There goes that “U” again! That’s another common change you’ll see with these next three words on the verlan\u00a0<\/em>list. Incorporating the “U” into these words and dropping the last “e” gives the word a better sound\u00a0<\/em>in its envers<\/em>\u00a0(reversed) version.<\/p>\n In the case of fr\u00e8re<\/strong><\/em> aka reuf<\/strong>,<\/em> the second “r” is also dropped:<\/p>\n Fr\u00e8re<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2192 fr\u00e8<\/strong><\/em>–re<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2192 re<\/strong><\/em>–fr\u00e8<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0\u2192 What Is Verlan?<\/h2>\n
10\u00a0French Verlan Slang Words You Must Learn<\/h2>\n
1. C\u00e9fran<\/em>\u00a0(Fran\u00e7ais<\/em> \u2014 <\/em>French)<\/h3>\n
2. Trom\u00e9<\/em>\u00a0(M\u00e9tro <\/em>\u2014 <\/em>Metro)<\/h3>\n
3. Cimer<\/em>\u00a0(Merci <\/em>\u2014 <\/em>Thank You)<\/h3>\n
4. Ouf<\/em>\u00a0(Fou <\/em>\u2014 <\/em>Crazy)<\/h3>\n
5. Oim<\/em>\u00a0(Moi <\/em>\u2014 <\/em>Me)<\/h3>\n
6. Meuf<\/em>\u00a0(Femme <\/em>\u2014 <\/em>Woman)<\/h3>\n
7. Reuf<\/em>\u00a0(Fr\u00e8re <\/em>\u2014 <\/em>Brother)<\/h3>\n