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 | Impressively good, stylish or admirable in casual praise. Not about low temperature. |
| awesome | génial | Extremely good, said with enthusiasm about something you really like. |
| guy, dude | mec | Informal for a person; friendly, not insulting in casual speech. |
| to hang out | traîner | To spend unhurried free time somewhere, usually with friends. |
| to chill, relax | se détendre | To let go of tension and rest calmly after effort or stress. |
| No way! | Pas question ! | An emphatic refusal meaning absolutely not, under no circumstances. |
| Awesome, right? | C'est top, non ? | A casual tag inviting the listener to agree that something is great. |
| 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 | Gradually, in small amounts or stages over time. |
| more or less | plus ou moins | Approximately, roughly true but not exactly. |
| What a mess! | Quel bazar ! | An exclamation about a scene of great disorder or muddle. |
| Are you kidding? | Tu rigoles ? | Said in disbelief, asking whether the speaker is joking. |
| no worries | t'inquiète | A casual reassurance that everything is fine and nobody should fret. |
| awesome time | un moment génial | A hugely enjoyable stretch of fun. |
| 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 | A very large amount or quantity of something. |
| to mess up | faire une gaffe | To blunder and spoil something through your own clumsiness. |
| step by step | pas à pas | Proceeding one stage at a time in careful order. |
| It's worth it | ça vaut le coup | Said when the effort or cost is repaid by the result. |
| so-so | comme ci comme ça | Neither good nor bad, only middling. |
| to keep an eye on | garder un œil | Idiom: to watch or monitor, not literal eye. |
| Get it?, Understood? | D'accord ? | A short question checking that the listener has grasped what you said. |
| Okay, alright | d'accord | A word expressing agreement or consent to what was proposed. |
| to be worth nothing | ne rien valoir | To have no value or usefulness whatsoever. |
| hurry up! | dépêche-toi ! | A command telling someone to move or act faster right now. |
| to be in a hurry | être pressé | To have too little time and need to act quickly. |
| for real, seriously | sérieux | Genuinely and truly, without any joking. |
| That's life | c'est la vie | A resigned remark that such unwelcome things simply happen. |
| Better late than never | mieux vaut tard que jamais | A saying that doing something behind time beats not doing it at all. |
| 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. - 448 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.