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There's often a final "e" in French, which is then changed to "eu" after the word gets reversed (and then often truncated). Another example is "herbe" (literall
by bestouff 7y ago
There's often a final "e" in French, which is then changed to "eu" after the word gets reversed (and then often truncated). Another example is "herbe" (literally "grass" but now more often used for cannabis) which becomes "beuher" then "beuh").
As the final "e" is often mute, this process is then generalized even to words where it's not there. As a widely used example, a "flic" (slang for a "cop") becomes a "keufli" then a "keuf".
- jeanmichelx 7y agoOh gosh I've been using some of these words without even realising they were shortened verlan.
- tripa 7y agoI'll add the two I had to have explained to me: chèm <- moche (ugly), not to be confused with chanmé <- méchant (bad) (think bad motherfucker), whose ending can't affort to drop. reuch <- cher (expensive), not to be understood as an anglicism for "rush".
- wazoox 7y agoAlso "reubeu": it's "arabe" becoming "beura" in verlan, shortened to "beur", then reversed again to "reubeu".
- julienfr112 7y agothere is also something funny: beurette, which is a feminization of beur, didn't have any particular meaning in the 90's but became very perogative in the 10's meaning a girl that want to show off but is not interesting. Oh, and it's now use without regard to race.
- oliv__ 7y agoPutain j'aurais jamais su. Thanks HN
- hoistbypetard 7y agoI knew what "keuf" meant, but never how it got constructed. I learned the word because of an MC Solaar lyric... "Qui vole un oeuf, vole un boeuf. Qui viole une meuf se fait serrer par les keufs." "meuf" was obvious to me but "keuf" never was. So thank you! You've answered something I was wondering about for more than 20 years now.
- bestouff 7y agoYou're welcome. I give back to HN what HN gave to me (obscure knowledge).