During the spring semester in my Conversational French class, Professor Reaves introduced our class to Verlan, the common French slang that is very popular amongst the younger French generations. Due to this initial exposure, I anticipated not being able to understand some locals. However, it was not until I started taking my French classes that I truly realized how present verlan is in the everyday life of young locals. The slang words of verlan have found their way into textbooks and are being taught by professors in an effort to prepare students like me to be as conversational as possible. Verlan is not very complicated; it is simply the inversion of syllables in a word that became popular from hip hop and rap music. It has been adopted by young French people and plays a part in the “langue de métro,” a phrase used to describe informal and solely oral French. Some examples of verlan include cimer which is the inversion of mer-ci, meuf for femme (woman), mec for homme (man), and teuf for fête (party).
Last week, a few friends and I went to the Parc du Champ-de-Mars for a picnic to say goodbye to a classmate. While there, I met some new French friends who joined us for the celebration, and I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to ask about verlan. Once I mentioned my tiny bit of experience with verlan, they practically jumped with excitement. They mentioned that it is very rare for foreigners to be familiar with this slang but it is very prevalent with teens and people in their early 20s in France. They said they use verlan when talking to people of the same age or younger but try to avoid it when talking to parents or people of the older French generations. They explained that the older generations are very loyal to the strict grammar rules of the French language and that older French people see the French language as an art that must be protected. These new friends made a point to say that verlan is used frequently in conversation but it does not reflect one’s lack of education.
While walking around Paris, I carry a cloth sack for my books, as many French women do, that says Washington D.C. I was standing in line at the Arc de Triomphe when an older couple touring with friends behind me struck up a conversation with me and asked what it was like living in the DC area with our current president. I offered my opinion and then asked for their opinion on verlan, a question for a question type of exchange. They explained that they do not use verlan because it still bears a sort of negative connotation due to where it came from. The couple explained that they know some words of verlan but not all, and they assumed it was a similar situation for most people their age. If you are not familiar with the person you are talking to, they said to avoid verlan. According to this friendly couple, young people are disrespecting their mother tongue by using this slang but added that older generations are going to have to adapt because verlan is not going anywhere.
View from the Arc de Triomphe
From all these conversations, I have gathered that verlan plays an important role in connecting with locals. Before I leave, my goal is to identify as much verlan vocabulary as possible.