When you start learning French, you generally spend a lot of time reading textbooks and memorizing grammar rules.

But if you ever travel to Paris, Montreal, or any French-speaking city, you’ll quickly notice that the French people speak on the street sounds very different from the French you learn in a classroom.

That’s because native speakers use a lot of slang, or l’argot in French.

If you want to improve your French listening skills and sound more natural when you speak, learning a few common slang words is the perfect next step.

Before we start, you should know about a special type of French slang called verlan.

Verlan is created by reversing the syllables of a word. For example, the word verlan itself is the reversed form of l’envers (which means “the reverse”).

You’ll see a few verlan words on this list.

Here are some fun French slang words you should know.

Mec (guy or dude)

Mec is one of the most common slang words in France. It simply means “guy,” “dude,” or “man.”

You can use it to talk about a male friend, a stranger, or even a boyfriend. If a girl says mon mec, she’s saying “my boyfriend.”

Note that in Quebec (Canadian French), people rarely use mec. Instead, they use the word gars to mean “guy.”

Meuf (woman or girl)

Meuf is the female equivalent of mec. This is our first example of verlan! It comes from reversing the syllables of the word femme (woman).

Just like mec, it can be used to talk about a woman, a girl, or a girlfriend (ma meuf).

Ouf (crazy or awesome)

This is another very popular verlan word. If you take the French word for crazy (fou) and flip it backwards, you get ouf.

You can use ouf to describe something that’s literally crazy, but it’s mostly used to describe something amazing, awesome, or mind-blowing. You’ll often hear the phrase un truc de ouf, which translates to “a crazy thing.”

Kiffer (to like or love)

Forget about always using aimer (to like/love). When French youth want to say they really like something, they use the verb kiffer.

This word originally comes from Arabic, but it’s been completely adopted into everyday French slang. You can use it for food, movies, activities, or even people. If you like something a lot, you can say surkiffer (to over-like).

Grave (totally or seriously)

In standard French, grave means serious or severe (like a grave illness). However, in slang, it’s used as an adverb to mean “totally,” “very,” or “seriously.”

It’s often used as a one-word response to strongly agree with someone, similar to saying “Totally!” in English.

Relou (annoying)

When someone or something is being a pain in the neck, you can call them relou.

This is the verlan (backwards) version of the word lourd, which literally means “heavy.” In slang, if someone is “heavy,” it means they’re annoying, exasperating, or too much to handle.

Bof (meh or so-so)

Bof isn’t just a word; it’s a sound and a feeling. It translates best to “meh” in English.

You use bof when you’re feeling indifferent, unimpressed, or unenthusiastic about something. The French often pair this word with a classic shoulder shrug.

Taf (work or job)

Instead of saying le travail (work) or le métier (job), casual French speakers often say le taf.

You can also use it as a verb: taffer (to work). It’s highly common among adults and students alike when talking about their daily grind.

Bouffer (to eat)

The standard French verb for “to eat” is manger. But in informal situations, French people love to use the verb bouffer.

You’ll also hear the noun form, la bouffe, which just means “food” or “grub.”

Wesh (yo or what’s up)

Wesh is an extremely popular greeting among teenagers and young adults in France, especially in the suburbs (les banlieues). It comes from Algerian Arabic and translates loosely to “Yo” or “What’s up?“.

Sometimes it’s used just to express disbelief or surprise, similar to saying “Whoa!”

Summary table of French slang

To help you review, here’s a quick cheat sheet of the 10 slang words we covered today.

Try dropping one or two of these words into your next French conversation. Your friends will definitely think you sound more like a native!

Check out my other guides on learning French vocabulary to keep building your skills.