French Verlan: Common Slang Words You Need to Know

Estimated Keyword Difficulty: Low (KD ~8–15)

Introduction

You've been learning French for a while. You can order at a restaurant, ask for directions, and hold a basic conversation. Then you watch a French film, or chat with a young French person, and suddenly nothing makes sense. People are saying words you've never heard, and no dictionary seems to have them.

Chances are, you've encountered verlan — France's most distinctive form of slang.

Verlan is not just casual French. It's a specific form of argot (slang) built on a clever linguistic trick: words are broken into syllables and reversed. The name "verlan" itself comes from reversing l'envers (meaning "the reverse" or "back to front"): l'en-vers → ver-l'an → verlan.

Understanding verlan will dramatically improve your ability to follow informal French conversations, enjoy French films and music, and connect with younger French speakers. This guide explains how verlan works and introduces you to the most common verlan words in use today.

A Brief History of Verlan

Verlan emerged in the outskirts (banlieues) of French cities — particularly around Paris — in the 1970s and 1980s. It was primarily used by young people from immigrant communities and working-class suburbs as a way of creating an in-group language that outsiders (including authorities) couldn't easily understand. The coded, inverted nature of the words served a social function: marking group membership and providing a degree of privacy in speech.

By the 1990s, verlan had spread beyond the banlieues into mainstream French youth culture, largely through hip-hop, rap music, and cinema. Artists like MC Solaar, IAM, and later Booba and Nekfeu used verlan extensively, bringing it into the mainstream.

Today, verlan is so integrated into everyday French informal speech that many young people use it without thinking of it as special slang at all. Some verlan words have become so common that they appear in standard French dictionaries — meuf (woman/wife), relou (annoying), and ouf (crazy/intense) are all officially recognised.

How Verlan Works: The Mechanics

The basic principle of verlan is syllable reversal, but in practice the rules are a bit more fluid than a strict reversal, because French speakers naturally adapt words to sound natural when spoken.

Simple one-syllable reversal:

• fou (crazy) → ouf (the letters are reversed and the pronunciation adjusted)
• sur (on/certain) → reus (less common, but the logic is the same)

Two-syllable reversal:

Most verlan words come from reversing the two syllables of a word:

• l'envers → verlan
• femme (woman) → meuf (the syllables are reorganised phonetically)
• l'arabe (the Arab) → beur (a term for second-generation North Africans in France)
• louche (suspicious) → chelou (suspicious/shady)
• l'école (school) → la kéle (less common today)

Three-syllable words:

These get trimmed as well as reversed — full verlan reversal of three-syllable words tends to produce unpronounceable results, so speakers shorten them:

• cigarette → garetsi → simplified to garette → actually more commonly just clope in practice
• bizarre → zarbi (weird)

Double-verlanning:

Some words have been "verlanned" twice — the verlan form itself gets reversed again:

• arabe → beur (first verlan) → rebeu (second verlan, still used today)
• femme → meuf (first verlan) — rarely verlanned again in common use

The fluidity of the system is part of what makes verlan creative and evolving — it's a living linguistic phenomenon, not a fixed set of rules.

The Most Important Verlan Words to Know

People and Identity

Meuf (femme — woman/girl)

Originally meant simply "woman" or "girl." Now used broadly: C'est ma meuf — That's my girlfriend/wife.

Keum or kum (mec — guy/bloke)

C'est un bon keum — He's a good guy.

Beur / Rebeu (arabe — Arab)

Originally from l'arabe, used in sociological and cultural contexts to describe second-generation North Africans in France. Rebeu is the double-verlanned form. Both terms are used within the community and in media, though they carry complex cultural weight.

Renoi (noir — Black)

Verlan of noir, used similarly to beur in cultural contexts. Use with care; these identity terms should be understood in cultural context.

Feuj (juif — Jewish)

Verlan of juif. Used colloquially in France; context matters.

Describing Things and Situations

Chelou (louche — suspicious, shady, weird)

One of the most commonly used verlan words today. C'est chelou — That's weird/sketchy. Il est chelou, ce mec — That guy's suspicious/odd.

Ouf (fou — crazy, intense, amazing)

C'était ouf! — That was crazy/amazing! Can be positive or negative depending on context.

Zarbi (bizarre — bizarre, weird)

C'est zarbi, non? — That's weird, isn't it?

Relou (lourd — heavy; figuratively: annoying, a drag)

C'est trop relou — That's so annoying. Il est relou, ce type — That guy is so annoying.

Grave → vré (though grave itself is already widely used in slang to mean "seriously" or "absolutely")

Trop (très — very) — not verlan, but used heavily in informal speech: C'est trop bien — It's really good.

Actions and States

Laisse béton (laisse tomber — forget it / let it go)

Probably the most famous verlan expression. Laisse béton — Forget it / Drop it / Never mind.

Teuf (fête — party)

On va à la teuf — We're going to the party.

Cimer (merci — thanks)

Cimer mec! — Thanks man! Very common in casual texting and speech among young people.

Ripou (pourri — rotten; also used to mean corrupt, especially for corrupt police)

Made famous by the 1984 French film Ripoux about corrupt cops. Un flic ripou — A corrupt cop.

Pécho (choper — to grab/catch; also to "pull" someone romantically)

J'ai pécho — I pulled / I got with someone.

Vénère (énervé — annoyed, angry)

Je suis trop vénère — I'm really annoyed/angry.

Places

Reum (mère — mother)

J'appelle ma reum — I'm calling my mum.

Reup (père — father)

Mon reup est rentré — My dad came home.

Teup (pute — offensive term; use with awareness of its context)

Banlieue → while not verlan itself, the banlieue is the origin of verlan culture; knowing this context enriches your understanding of the language.

Common Verlan in Text and Social Media

Verlan is particularly common in French text messaging, social media, and online chat among young people. Some forms you'll see frequently:

• Lol / MDR — mort de rire (dying of laughter) — the French equivalent of LOL
• Askip — à ce qu'il paraît (apparently, so it seems) — not verlan, but common slang
• Cimer — merci (thanks)
• Pk — pourquoi (why)
• Jsp — je sais pas (I don't know)

Verlan in French Music and Cinema

One of the best ways to absorb verlan naturally is through French hip-hop and cinema.

French Hip-Hop Artists Who Use Verlan:

• MC Solaar — classic verlan-heavy lyrics in 1990s French rap
• IAM — Marseille rap collective, heavy cultural slang
• Booba — hugely influential in modern French rap, dense argot and verlan
• Orelsan — mainstream rapper from Caen, uses colloquial French and slang accessibly
• Aya Nakamura — her song "Djadja" contains verlan and slang that became internationally known

Listening to French rap and reading the lyrics simultaneously is an excellent way to learn verlan in context.

Films with Notable Verlan and Street French:

• La Haine (1995) — seminal film set in Paris banlieues; rich in verlan and colloquial French
• L'Esquive (2004) — teenagers from the suburbs rehearse a Marivaux play; the contrast between classical and street French is central to the film
• Intouchables (2011) — accessible film with natural informal French
• Banlieue 13 (2004) — action film set in a fictional sealed-off banlieue; heavy slang

Even if you can't understand everything in these films without subtitles, watching them with French subtitles (not English) exposes you to verlan in authentic context.

Is Verlan Appropriate in All Situations?

Absolutely not — and this is important to understand. Verlan is informal register language. Using it in formal or professional situations would be jarring at best and offensive at worst.

Think of verlan the way you'd think of heavy slang in English: you might say "wanna grab a bite?" to a friend but not to a job interviewer. Similarly:

Appropriate contexts for verlan:

• Casual conversation with young French friends
• Text messages and social media
• Discussing French music, film, or culture
• Creative writing that involves young French characters

Inappropriate contexts:

• Job interviews
• Formal emails
• Academic writing
• Speaking with older people who may be unfamiliar with it
• Speaking in formal professional settings

As a learner, it's generally best to recognise and understand verlan rather than use it heavily yourself — at least until you have a strong feel for which contexts call for it. Used out of place, verlan can sound forced or even disrespectful.

How to Learn More Verlan Naturally

1. Watch French youth cinema and TV series

Plan Cœur, Validé, Skam France, and Au service de la France all feature natural informal French that includes colloquialisms and some verlan.

2. Listen to French rap and read along with lyrics

Genius (genius.com) has French rap lyrics and often provides annotations explaining slang. This is genuinely useful for decoding verlan in music.

3. Follow French social media

Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter/X in French will expose you to how young French people actually write and speak. Even just reading comments sections on French posts teaches you a lot.

4. Use context rather than trying to decode mechanically

Don't try to mentally reverse every word you hear to find its origin. Over time, exposure makes verlan feel natural — you'll simply recognise that chelou means weird without consciously thinking "oh, that's louche reversed."

5. Ask French friends or tutors

If you're working with a French language partner or tutor who is relatively young, ask them what slang they actually use. Native speakers are often delighted to teach colloquial French.

Quick Reference: Essential Verlan Vocabulary

Conclusion

Verlan is one of the most fascinating aspects of contemporary French — a creative, living language system born from the urban banlieues and now woven into the fabric of French youth culture. Understanding it opens a window into a side of France that textbooks rarely touch: the vibrant, multicultural, street-level French of real everyday life.

You don't need to speak verlan yourself, but recognising it will make films, music, and casual conversation significantly more accessible. Start with the words in this guide, expose yourself to French hip-hop and contemporary cinema, and let the patterns become familiar over time.

Language is more than grammar — it's culture, identity, and community. And verlan is one of the most alive expressions of that truth in modern France.

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