Slang French Words and Phrases for Dining and Drinking
Reading time: 1 minute
It’s party time! Whether you’re out for a cozy dinner with your French friends or hitting the town for a night of drinking, merriment, and a little bit of mischief, how would you like to be the life of the party by knowing exactly the right words to say?
Sounds awesome? You bet it is!
So here you go with a list of words and phrases that you should arm yourself with. And no matter how wasted you get, remember to always keep it classy!
Get this list in PDF format
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| En buvant et en mangeant | Drinking and eating |
| À la tienne/À la vôtre! | Cheers! |
| une andouille | fool (sort of sausage) |
| un apéro (= apéritif) | drink, aperitif |
| ardoise: avoir une ardoise | to have a tab (slate) |
| arroser | to celebrate with a drink |
| becter | to eat (to nosh) |
| la bouffe | meal, something to eat |
| bouffer | to eat, to have a meal |
| Ça s’arrose! | That deserves a drink! |
| C’est cadeau. | It’s a treat. |
| le canon | drink |
| cloche: se taper la cloche | to have a good meal |
| couper (ne pas y couper) | to cut (not to miss) |
| coûter (la peau des fesses*) | to cost (an arm and a leg) |
| cracher (sur quelque chose) | to say no to, to spit on |
| crever (de faim) | to die (of hunger) |
| crocs: avoir les crocs | be famished |
| croute: casser la croute | have a meal, snack |
| la cuisine | cooking |
| la cuisine du terroir | regional cooking |
| le cuistot | chef |
| dalle: avoir la dalle | to be hungry |
| descente: avoir une bonne descente | to knock it back |
| écluser | to knock back (to sink) (your drink) |
| estomac: avoir l’estomac dans les talons | to be very hungry |
| les fruits de mer | seafood |
| le gigot | leg of lamb |
| grave | serious(ly) |
| jaune: un p'tit jaune | pastis |
| jeter: s'en jeter un* | to down a drink |
| magner/se magner | to get a move on |
| la mousse | beer |
| une occase (= occasion) | occasion |
| la picole | boozing |
| le pinard | cheap wine (plonk) |
| le pochtron | drunkard (piss artist) |
| poil: être de bon/mauvais poil | to be in a good/bad mood |
| poil: n'avancer pas d’un poil | to advance hardly at all |
| poil: reprendre du poil de la bête | to recover (from a hangover) |
| le poivrot | drunkard |
| régaler | to treat someone else |
| regarder: ne pas y regarder | to be generous |
| remettre | to have another |
| le resto (= restaurant) | restaurant |
| rétamé, être | to be hammered (legless) |
| se creuser les méninges | to rack your brains |
| se défoncer | to get wasted |
| se grouiller | to get a move on |
| mettre en train | to get with the flow |
| payer | to treat yourself |
| prendre (un apéro) | to have a drink |
| se taper | to treat yourself |
| le soûlard | drunkard |
| tassé: bien tassé | a good measure |
| train: se mettre en train | to get in the flow |
| traite: boire d’une traite | (to drink) in one swallow |
| trinquer | to clínk glasses, to propose a toast to someone |
You want more? Check out my French Slang e-book and support Talk in French
Please tell me in the comment section if there is some topics for vocab that you would like to review.
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About the Author Frederic Bibard
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 Twitter and Google +