French Vocabulary Not Learned In School: Slang Greetings

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Last Updated: June 5, 2023

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A cool fact!  French is the national language of the United Nations and is the second most commonly taught foreign language, after English.

When studying to be fluent in French, master these common greetings in French to shape your conversational proficiencies. Your greeting in French can make or break your first impression. Almost everybody who speaks French uses the subsequent list of vocabularies: These jargons are so very French.

colloquial french greetings

You can also download this list in PDF version below.

ben (= bien) well
bise: faire la bise to kiss (on both cheeks)
bof expression meaning “not too well,” “so-so”
avoir du bol to be in luck
la bouffegrub/ nosh
être à la bourre to be late
un bout de temps quite a while
Ça va? How are things? How are you doing?
dis donc tell me, say
Filer un rencard to make a date
Ça marche It's OK. It’s fine.
piger to understand
que dalle nothing at all (sod all)
le rencard date
Salut! Hi!
se faire une bouffe to prepare a meal
se ramener to arrive unexpectedly
se sauver to leave in a hurry
se taper une sale tronche to look dreadful
sympa (= sympathique) nice, cool
une tache spot, blot, jerk, idiot (git, berk)
tomber sur quelqu'un to bump into someone
la tronche face
être de trop to be a third wheel (to play gooseberry)
tutoyer to say tu to somebody
le tuyau piece of advice
mon vieux my old pal (my old mate)
vouvoyer to say vous to somebody

Here is a guide on when and how to use vous and tu.  You should check it out as well.

Make sure to practice your greetings in French! For a complete course on French vocabulary, slang, and idiomatic expressions, check out our French Vocabulary Mastery Course below. 

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About the author 

Frederic Bibard is the founder of Talk in French, a company that helps french learners to practice and improve their french. Macaron addict. Jacques Audiard fan. You can contact him on Instagram

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