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French Vocabulary Not Learned in School: French Slang for Work and Status

By Frederic Bibard Published:

2 min read

Learning French the way it is spoken by natives? This list of slang related to work and status is perfect for you. Check it here.

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Difficulty: Intermediate-Advanced

Everyone’s gotta work to earn some dough, right?

That is, unless you’re the rolling-in-money kind of filthy rich. Good for you then.

But for this list of vocabulary, we take a look at the words, phrases, and slang on everything job related. Because hey, earning some moolah will never go passé.

Plus, you’re sure to come across this vocabulary sooner or later, too.

  • Work and JobsLe travail
  • Work, the jobLe boulot
  • The workplaceLa boite
  • To workBosser, boulonner
  • To work hardBucher
  • Hard-workingBucheur, euse
  • LazinessLa cosse
    La flemme
  • LazyFlemmard,e
  • To be bone-idleAvoir un poil dans la main
  • A failureUn raté, une ratée
  • To exploitFaire suer le burnous (suer = to perspire, le burnous = an Arabian robe-like garment; from the good old days of the Empire when one made the Arabs work like slaves)
  • To sack, to kick outVider (literally, empty out)
    Foutre à la porte
  • To have friends in the right placesAvoir du piston
  • String-pullingLe piston
  • To pull strings on behalf of someonePistonner quelqu’un
  • To grease someone’s palmGraisser la patte à quelqu’un
  • A bigwigUne grosse légume
    Un gros bonnet
    Une huile
  • A cop, a policemanUn flic
    Un poulet
  • The fuzz, the policeLa flicaille
  • Down with the pigs!Mort aux vaches!
  • A cop on two wheelsUne vache à roulettes
  • A member of the security/espionage servicesUn barbouze
  • A bodyguardUn gorille
  • A doctor (informal)Un toubib (docteur)
  • A teacherUn prof
  • A chefUn cuistot
  • A funeral parlour employeeUn croque-mort (croquer = to bite into, to munch)
  • A priest in his cassockUn corbeau (literally, a crow)
  • A politicianUn politicard
  • A lady lavatory attendantUne dame-pipi
  • A cobblerUn bouif
  • A poor painter; a dauberUn barbouilleur (barbouiller = to smear, to scrawl)
  • Third-rate paintingsLes croûtes (f)
  • A third-rate book, film or other work of artUn navet
  • A paper-pusher (usually a bureaucrat)Un rond-de-cuir
  • A soldierUn troufion
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