Friends Boyfriends And Girlfriends
Un mec: a bloke
Une nana: a girl, a bird
Un pote, une pote: a friend, a mate
Mon Jules, mon Julot: my boyfriend
In old-fashioned slang, jules used to mean pimp...
Mon loulou, ma louloutte: my boyfriend, my girlfriend
Loulou is short for loubard, which means yob, louloutte being the feminine.
Ma nénette: my bird
Les Gens
Family
Ouam: Me. Verlan for moi. Verlan is a form of slang where the syllables of a word are said the other way round. M/oi becomes oi/m, pronounced ouam
Ouate: You. Verlan for toi. T/oi becomes oi/t, pronounced ouate.
On va chez ouate ou chez ouam? Your place or mine?
Ma reum. My mum.
Mon reup. My dad.
Verlan for mère, père. Mè/re, pè/re in verlan should be re/mè, re/pè, but the final é sounds ugly, so it's omitted, leaving us with re/m, re/p, pronounced reum, reup. J'habite chez ma reum.
Mon frangin, ma frangine: My brother, my sister.
Un gamin, un mome: A kid.
La belle-doche: The mother-in-law. Should be la belle-mère, but it's yet another opportunity to ridicule this rather unpopular character (with the suffix doche).
Le beauf [bof] nm -
1. short for beau-frère, brother-in-law.
2. pej. & fig. archetypal lower middle-class Frenchman. According to the Larousse dictionary, "beaufs" are archetypal ordinary Frenchmen as perceived by the French themselves. The term, which is short for beau-frère (brother-in-law), also suggests conformism and a narrow outlook.
Humeurs
Moods
I FEEL GOOD!
J'ai la pêche!
Literally, I've got the peach! Officially translated as "I'm full of get-up-and-go!" or "I'm on form!". The fact that this expression can be found in dictionaries means that it is understood by absolutely everyone. But as a result, it loses a tiny bit of its coolness.
J'ai la patate!
Lit. I've got the potato! Patate here has exactly the same function as pêche. This expression is not in dictionaries... yet.
J'ai la frite!
Lit. I've got the chip/french fry! Again, there is no point in trying to figure out the link between the word and its meaning... after all, France is the country of food. Anyway, dictionaries translate it as "I'm on top form!"
Any of these expressions + d'enfer!....... from hell! This emphasizes all of the above. But, you should save it for days when you feel REALLY good, because you are very unlikely to find a stronger expression. La becomes une: J'ai une pêche/patate/frite d'enfer!
Super
Super has been around for decades, experiencing ups and downs in terms of popularity. Now it is cool again - so much so that it has, in many cases, replaced the traditional vachement. It is used as an adverb, just after the verb: J'ai super la pêche/patate/frite!
I FEEL HAPPY
J'ai la banane: Lit. I've got the banana. Finally, an expression that has a rational explanation! What does the shape of a banana refers to? The shape of your lips smiling, of course. Perfectly describes euphoria, doesn't it?
I FEEL UPSET
J'ai les boules! Lit. I've got the balls. French people feel anger swell in them through some glands that they have in the back of their throat, which they call les boules. This expression can be completed by an appropriate gesture:
1.Hold two imaginary pétanque balls, one in each hand.
2.Then repetitively shake your hands in front of your neck, as if enormously swollen glands were growing out of your throat.
3.Say j'ai les boules!
4.Any swearword is welcome, before or after.
J'ai la haine! Lit. I've got hatred. I feel hatred within me. Definitely stronger than j'ai les boules. With this expression, it's impossible for your friends not to take you seriously. They will get the message that today is not the right day to mess with you.
Super
J'ai super les boules/la haine!
Je suis vert(e)! Lit. I'm green! Traditionally, red is the colour associated with anger. Green is probably the next stage up, the colour that your face turns to when you reach a level of utmost anger and consternation. So much so that it makes you feel sick, hence the other expression: