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Argot - French Slang - P

The following words and definitions were originally sent in the free Mot du jour newsletter.

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paillard (informal adj) - bawdy, coarse, lewd

[pa yar]

Ce mec est trop paillard - This guy is too bawdy.

Aimes-tu les histoires paillardes ? - Do you like lewd stories?

Related word: la paillardise - bawdiness, lewd/dirty joke

Learn some French slang: http://french.about.com/od/slang

 

une panne

[pahn]

breakdown; fat, grease

Ma voiture est en panne - My car broke down.

Il y a une panne d'électricité - The power is out.

Informal expressions: être en panne - to be stuck, run out of words; être en panne de + qqchose - to run out of something; rester en panne devant une difficulté - to remain stumped, stuck by a problem; les travaux sont / le projet est en panne - work/the project is at a standstill; laisser qqun en panne - to leave someone in the lurch, let someone down

 

pantouflard

[pa(n) tu flar]

(inf adj) - uneventful, quiet

Nous avons passé une journée pantouflarde. - We spent an uneventful day.

un pantouflard - stay-at-home person

Related: une pantoufle - slipper; pantoufler - (inf) to laze/lounge around at home

 

et patati et patata

[ay pa ta tee ay pa ta ta]

(inf excl) - and so on and so forth

Elle m'a dit de faire la lessive, les lits, la vaiselle, et patati et patata. - She told me to do the laundry, make the beds, do the dishes, yada yada.

 

peinard

[pe nar]

(familiar adj) - cushy, easy

C'est un boulot peinard - It's a cushy job.

On va être peinard - We're going to take it easy.

Expression: rester / se tenir peinard - to keep out of trouble

Related word: peinardement (adv) - quietly

Alternate spelling: pénard

 

peler

[peu lay]

to peel

D'abord, il faut peler les pommes de terre. - First, we have to peel the potatoes.

Je pèle les oranges et toi, les bananes. - I'm peeling the oranges; you do the bananas.

Familiar expression: On pèle ici ! - It's damn cold! We're freezing our butts off here!

  

un pépère

[pay per]

(informal, baby talk) - grandad, grandpa

Salut pépère ! - Hi grandad!

(informal) - cute child (only with gros)

Tiens le gros pépère ! - Look at the cute little baby!

(informal adjective) - quiet, easy, uneventful, cushy

On ne veut qu'une vie pépère - All we want is a quiet life.

Quel boulot pépère ! - What a cushy job!

 

percuter

[per ku tay]

to strike, crash into 

Je me suis blessé quand ma tête a percuté la table. - I hurt myself when my head struck the table.

Attention ! Tu vas percuter contre cet arbre. - Watch out! You're going to crash into that tree.

(familiar) - to get it (e.g., a joke)

Related words: la percussion - percussion; un/e percussioniste - percussionist

 

piger (familiar) - to twig, get it, understand

[pee zhay]

Tu piges ? - You get it?

Je ne pige pas - I don't get it

Je pige enfin - The penny has finally dropped (for me)

Je ne pige rien à ça - That's all Greek to me.

If you don't "pige" some French verb tenses, check out my timeline: http://french.about.com/library/bl_timeline.htm

 

une pile

[peel]

pile, stack, battery, tails (on a coin toss)

Les piles d'un pont doivent être très fortes - A bridge's piles (beams) have to be very strong.

Il y a une pile d'assiettes sur la table - There's a stack of dishes on the table.

J'ai acheté des piles rechargeables - I bought some rechargeable batteries.

(inf adv) - just, exactly, dead

La voiture s'est arrêtée pile - The car stopped dead.

Related: un pilier - pillar

 

pinailleur (informal adj) - persnickety, fussy

[pee na yeuhr]

Ta mère est trop pinailleuse ! - Your mother is too fussy!

Related words: pinailler (informal) - to split hairs, quibble, le pinaillage - hair-splitting, quibbling

If you're "pinailleur" about using the right words, be sure to make use of a dictionary: http://french.about.com/cs/dictionaries/index.htm

 

le pinard (familiar) - cheap wine, plonk

[pee nar]

Ne me donne pas de pinard ! - Don't give me any cheap wine!

Related word: un pinardier - wine tanker

Learn more about francophone spirits: http://french.about.com/cs/fooddrink/index.htm

 

un plouc

[pluk]

(informal, derogatory) - country bumpkin, hick

Il n'a jamais visité une ville ; c'est un vrai plouc. - He's never been to the city; he's a real hick.

(adj) - dowdy

Sa robe fait plouc - Her dress looks dowdy

 

un poisson

[pwa so(n)]

fish

Poisson d'avril ! - April Fool!

Exp: (heureux) comme un poisson dans l'eau - in one's element / happy as a clam; comme un poisson hors de l'eau - like a fish out of water; engueuler qqun comme du poisson pourri (fam) - to rag s.o. out, call s.o. every name under the sun; Petit poisson deviendra grand - From little acorns mighty oaks grow; faire une queue de poisson à qqun - to cut in front of s.o.; finir en queue de poisson - to end abruptly, to remain in the air

 

un pot

[po]

jar, pot, tin, can

J'ai acheté un pot de confiture - I bought a jar of jam.

(informal) - drink, luck

On va prendre un pot ! - We're going to have a drink!

Pierre a du pot ! - Pierre is lucky!

Related word: potable (adj) - drinkable

 

potasser

[puh ta say]

(informal) - to cram, bone up, swot 

Il y a un examen demain ; je dois vraiment potasser - There's a test tomorrow; I really need to cram.

J'ai oublié de potasser l'histoire - I forgot to bone up one history.

 

un pote (informal) - mate, buddy, chum

[puht]

Je sors avec mes potes ce soir - I'm going out with my mates tonight.

Salut mon pote ! - Hi, buddy!

You can find some new "potes" in the forum: http://forums.about.com/ab-french

 

un/e prof

[pruhf]

(informal) - teacher (short for professor)

J'aime bien mon prof - I really like my teacher.

Note that in France, professeur is always masculine even if the teacher is female: Laura est mon professeur - Laura is my teacher. Prof, however, can be masculine or feminine (as can professeur, in Canada).

 

un/e proprio

[pruh pree yo]

(fam) - landlord, landlady (short for propriétaire)

Je n'ai jamais eu de problèmes avec mon proprio - I've never had problems with my landlord.

La proprio de cet immeuble est très méchante - This building's landlady is very mean.

Related: la propriété - property, ownership

 

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*Pronunciation notes

Due to the limitations of HTML, I cannot use true phonetic symbols. I tried to be as straightforward as possible, but please refer to this chart to understand my pronunciation symbols. Note that this is only a guide to help you get the most out of the sound file. Please refer to a dictionary for the exact pronunciation. 

    a    father
ay hate
e bed
ee meet
euh full
o go
uh the
u fool
(n) nasal n
zh mirage

   

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