Ohh la la – not oooh la la (best said with a look of scandalous surprise)
Ah, bon? Ah bon… – depending on the tone of voice it could mean anything from “oh, really?” to “ahh, I see…”
En fait – literally translated to “in fact” this interjection is used in every other sentence.
Eh…ben…et voilà! – don’t know how to finish that phrase? Trail off with French onomatopoeia of
“eh’s, ben’s” and other such nonsensical “um”-like replacements. Just don’t forget to end with “voilà”
and make certain that the person you’re speaking with is where that’s the end of your thought. It’s like saying “well, there you have it!”
Écoute – “listen” chap, I’m going to start my every conversation with “listen”.
Vachement – probably equivalent to the American use for “very” or “really” – a rare French form of exaggeration, this word is used as a form of emphasis in oral language only.
Bétise – this can refer to anything from a baby throwing food around to teenagers using “gros-mos” (aka swear words). Generally refers to doing or saying something stupid.
Connories – a bit like bêtise, this word carries a more “funny..?” connotation – more like practical jokes than silly mistakes…? Hmm…hard to describe the difference. Shenanigans. That’s it.
Trucs – “things” or perhaps “stuff”. This word makes its appearance quite often.
Grave-bien – “grave” actually means grave as in “that injury isn’t grave, is it?” But apparently, the youngins have adopted as of late to serve as an alternative to “hyper”.
Sympa – sympa is used all the time and although it’s a shortened form of “sympathique” meaning
“nice”, it’s used to mean anything from nice to good to awesome. Mainly used in phrases such as “that concert/party/etc. was sympa!”
Bah…si, si! – si is a more forceful way of saying “oui” in French, and the only reason I mention it is because the French always have this exasperated look on their faces when they have to emphasize
something with “si” – I mean come on, didn’t you know that? “Si, si, c’est ça!”
Ouais – instead of “oui” they say ouais often enough – like our “yeah” – also inconveniently not noted in elementary French grammar books.
J’suis – Technically, je suis, meaning “I am” this phrase gets pushed together to sound like “shuis”.
En fait – literally translated to “in fact” this interjection is used in every other sentence.
Eh…ben…et voilà! – don’t know how to finish that phrase? Trail off with French onomatopoeia of
“eh’s, ben’s” and other such nonsensical “um”-like replacements. Just don’t forget to end with “voilà”
and make certain that the person you’re speaking with is where that’s the end of your thought. It’s like saying “well, there you have it!”
Écoute – “listen” chap, I’m going to start my every conversation with “listen”.
Vachement – probably equivalent to the American use for “very” or “really” – a rare French form of exaggeration, this word is used as a form of emphasis in oral language only.
Bétise – this can refer to anything from a baby throwing food around to teenagers using “gros-mos” (aka swear words). Generally refers to doing or saying something stupid.
Connories – a bit like bêtise, this word carries a more “funny..?” connotation – more like practical jokes than silly mistakes…? Hmm…hard to describe the difference. Shenanigans. That’s it.
Trucs – “things” or perhaps “stuff”. This word makes its appearance quite often.
Grave-bien – “grave” actually means grave as in “that injury isn’t grave, is it?” But apparently, the youngins have adopted as of late to serve as an alternative to “hyper”.
Sympa – sympa is used all the time and although it’s a shortened form of “sympathique” meaning
“nice”, it’s used to mean anything from nice to good to awesome. Mainly used in phrases such as “that concert/party/etc. was sympa!”
Bah…si, si! – si is a more forceful way of saying “oui” in French, and the only reason I mention it is because the French always have this exasperated look on their faces when they have to emphasize
something with “si” – I mean come on, didn’t you know that? “Si, si, c’est ça!”
Ouais – instead of “oui” they say ouais often enough – like our “yeah” – also inconveniently not noted in elementary French grammar books.
J’suis – Technically, je suis, meaning “I am” this phrase gets pushed together to sound like “shuis”.
The first time I heard this, I was blown away. This is also left out of French grammar guides.
Degolas- slang for “degutant” aka disgusting. Even the sound of that word connotes its ickyness.
Moche – slang for ugly. Used to express dislike. Also in every other sentence.
Marron – technically this translates as the color “brown” which is apparently funny given that this word is used in the exact same way as moche, however, it means “funny”.
Chier – a slang and a bit of a vulgar term expressing deep anger. But literally translates "to shit." (ex. ca me fait chier)
N’importe quoi – “Oh, that’s n’importe quoi” – roughly translated as “bullshit” this term gets thrown around, used anywhere from expressing an opinion on fashion to talking about a strike.
Nulle – literally meaning “nothing” this term is a bit like “n’importe quoi” in that it seems to serve nearly the same purpose and is equally untranslatable. If you say, “ah, bah c’est nulle!” you mean something like “oh that’s so stupid/dumb, etc.”
Drop the “ne” of “ne…pas” – “ne…pas” form the negative in French – the no, not type deal. And apparently, saying things like “j’suis” and dropping the “ne” in oral speech makes you sound more fluent, or just silly if you don’t know what you’re doing.
“On” in place of “nous” – nous is the plural form of “we” and “on” is a bit more like “one” however, in oral context you never say “we are going” as “nous allons” rather you say “on y va.”
Petit this, petit that…Petit, obviously meaning small, is added to everything. It’s almost like saying “cute” – or rather the way I use “cute” – for anything and everything.
Resto – an abbreviation from “restaurant”, it’s much “cooler” to say “on va a la resto”
Expo – in place of exposition which means “exhibition"
Degolas- slang for “degutant” aka disgusting. Even the sound of that word connotes its ickyness.
Moche – slang for ugly. Used to express dislike. Also in every other sentence.
Marron – technically this translates as the color “brown” which is apparently funny given that this word is used in the exact same way as moche, however, it means “funny”.
Chier – a slang and a bit of a vulgar term expressing deep anger. But literally translates "to shit." (ex. ca me fait chier)
N’importe quoi – “Oh, that’s n’importe quoi” – roughly translated as “bullshit” this term gets thrown around, used anywhere from expressing an opinion on fashion to talking about a strike.
Nulle – literally meaning “nothing” this term is a bit like “n’importe quoi” in that it seems to serve nearly the same purpose and is equally untranslatable. If you say, “ah, bah c’est nulle!” you mean something like “oh that’s so stupid/dumb, etc.”
Drop the “ne” of “ne…pas” – “ne…pas” form the negative in French – the no, not type deal. And apparently, saying things like “j’suis” and dropping the “ne” in oral speech makes you sound more fluent, or just silly if you don’t know what you’re doing.
“On” in place of “nous” – nous is the plural form of “we” and “on” is a bit more like “one” however, in oral context you never say “we are going” as “nous allons” rather you say “on y va.”
Petit this, petit that…Petit, obviously meaning small, is added to everything. It’s almost like saying “cute” – or rather the way I use “cute” – for anything and everything.
Resto – an abbreviation from “restaurant”, it’s much “cooler” to say “on va a la resto”
Expo – in place of exposition which means “exhibition"
MacDoh – the French translation of Mickee Dee’s.
Sarko – aka Sarcozy, the French president – clearly the French are fond of abbreviations.
