French slang and idiom vocabulary: 448 words
Sound like a local — common colloquial words and idioms with their natural equivalents in each language (English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Portuguese). This page lists 40 of them with their French translations, then lets you practise the full set in either direction with spaced repetition.
English to French: the first 40 words
| English | French | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| cool | cool | |
| awesome | génial | |
| guy, dude | mec | Informal for a person; friendly, not insulting in casual speech. |
| to hang out | traîner | |
| to chill, relax | se détendre | |
| No way! | Pas question ! | |
| Awesome, right? | C'est top, non ? | |
| It's a piece of cake | c'est du gâteau | Idiom: very easy to do, not about actual cake. |
| It's raining cats and dogs | il pleut des cordes | Idiom: heavy rain, not animals falling. |
| to cost an arm and a leg | coûter les yeux de la tête | Idiom: extremely expensive, not literal body parts. |
| to pull someone's leg | faire marcher quelqu'un | Idiom: to tease or joke with someone, not physical. |
| to be broke | être fauché | Having no money, not damaged or injured. |
| Speak of the devil | quand on parle du loup | Idiom: person arrives just as you mention them. |
| not my cup of tea | ce n'est pas ma tasse de thé | Idiom: not something you like or enjoy. |
| to hit the nail on the head | mettre le doigt dessus | Idiom: to say or do exactly the right thing. |
| Good luck! | bonne chance ! | Said before a performance or challenge. |
| little by little | petit à petit | |
| more or less | plus ou moins | |
| What a mess! | Quel bazar ! | |
| Are you kidding? | Tu rigoles ? | |
| no worries | t'inquiète | |
| awesome time | un moment génial | |
| to be fed up | en avoir marre | Very annoyed or tired of something; impatient. |
| on the dot | pile | Exactly on time. |
| big deal, a lot | plein | |
| to mess up | faire une gaffe | |
| step by step | pas à pas | |
| It's worth it | ça vaut le coup | |
| so-so | comme ci comme ça | |
| to keep an eye on | garder un œil | Idiom: to watch or monitor, not literal eye. |
| Get it?, Understood? | D'accord ? | |
| Okay, alright | d'accord | |
| to be worth nothing | ne rien valoir | |
| hurry up! | dépêche-toi ! | |
| to be in a hurry | être pressé | |
| for real, seriously | sérieux | |
| That's life | c'est la vie | |
| Better late than never | mieux vaut tard que jamais | |
| little by little the bird builds its nest | petit à petit l'oiseau fait son nid | Proverb: steady progress achieves goals over time. |
| to be on cloud nine | être aux anges | Idiom: extremely happy, not literally in sky. |
408 more words in the full “Slang & Idioms” library, each aligned across seven languages and scheduled for you by spaced repetition. Add it to your account and start drilling English to French in one click.
What to watch out for in French
- Accents count. Answers are graded accent-sensitively, so you need
àâçéèêîïô— LinguaSwap shows a one-tap keypad for them while you type. - 339 words carry a usage note in the full library, for the cases where a direct translation would mislead you.
Practise French slang and idiom vocabulary
Words come back just before you would forget them, and every language direction is tracked separately.