Verlan: The Backward French Slang

Verlan what? Languages like French or English are a kind of “living entity” and people have been modifying them for centuries, and it won’t stop. English speakers, as in other languages, tend to make words shorter; it is called Apheresis. There are many examples, like the word ”because” that sometimes is just pronounced “cause”.

Those phonetic modifications make it harder for a language learner to master an idiom perfectly. There is a phonetic modification that does not exist in English, and to my knowledge, only exists in French. This slang is called “Verlan”.

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First question…

1 –  Where does the word Verlan come from?

The explanation of this word will explain what is for a French person to speak in verlan. This French slang is the backward pronunciation of the French word “À l’envers”, which translates into English as “upside-down” or “reverse”. We erase “À” and switch the word “verl’en” and we modify the writing to end up with the word “Verlan”.

2 –  When do French people use it?

It is considered a family of French slang. This means that words in verlan are colloquial and cannot be used for an interview; I would not recommend using them during a formal meeting. French people are using verlan in everyday life.

From my experience, I noticed that Parisian people tend to use it even more than other French. Also, reverse slang is used by most generations and not only by the young from the suburbs, as you might imagine. 

3 – Which Verlan are the most popular in France?

I will mention some of them since they are quite popular in the French language.

For example: 

• Femme (woman) is Meuf.
• Mec (dude) is Keum.
• Soirée (evening) is Résoi.
• Énervé (angry) is Vénère
• Merci (Thanks) is Cimer 
• Méchant (Mean) is Chanmé
• Lourd (Heavy) is Relou
• Fou (Crazy) is Ouf 
• Mater (Look at) is Tema
• Fête (Party) is Teuf

I could write down tons of examples of it since the French people use verlan with most words of their language. The YouTuber Paul Taylor explains the verlan perfectly in one of his videos (at 2’25”) and how the verlan is driving him nuts. 

It is an inversion of the syllables of a word, but did you know that it was possible to have a double inversion? This is the case with the example that I used with “Femme”. This word can be transformed into “Meuf” as we saw, but it can be modified again to obtain “Feumeu”. I prefer to reassure you that there is not a triple inversion, double is crazy enough, right?

To conclude, languages are always different from the classroom to the place you are going to travel or live. The French language can sometimes be hard to learn, and Verlan can make you feel that you did not learn much of French during your studies. I want to let you know that slang is, to me, the last step of mastering a language. Verlan makes the step probably a little bigger, but I am sure you can do it! I recommend you to read my article about French slang: 50 French slang Words that your Teacher Hides from You.

Is your name Kevin? If yes, you have to read my article: The Curse of Being Named Kevin in the French Culture.