Get detailed PDF – Play online
Verlan slang started in the mid-eighties in France. The word “verlan” itself is a very good illustration of what it is: you get the word “verlan” by inverting the two syllables “l’en” and “vers” from the word “à l’envers”, which incidentally means “backwards.”
Translated into English, it would be something like saying “wards-back slang”. I’m tempted to make up a new word and translate it by “words-back slang”.
As it is a primarily spoken language, the rules on how verlan works are not so consistent, especially when it comes to words with more than 2 syllables. It works two ways, sometimes just switching syllables, sometimes also taking out vowel here and there:
English → French → combination → invertion → Verlan
shady, sleazy → louche → lou + che → che-lou → chelou
upset, irritated → énervé → é + ner + vé → (é) vé-ner → vénère
Start-up list of Verlan Slang:
…. 1.à donfe = à fond = totally
…. 2.chébran = branché/e = really “in”, fashionable
…. 3.chelou = louche = shady, sleazy, not trustworthy
…. 4.cheum, cheumo = moche = ugly
…. 5.ouf = fou/folle = crazy, nuts
…. 6.rebeu = arabe = a person from North AFrican ethnicity
…. 7.rèche = cher/chère = expensive
…. 8.tarpé = pétard = joint, doobie
…. 9.teubé/e = bête = stupid
…. 10.teuf = fête = party
…. 11.treum = métro = subway
…. 12.vénère = énervé = upset, irritated
.
RECENT COMMENTS