The French language is full of regional variations. Some words are sometimes considered ridiculous.
The French language is full of vocabulary specific to certain regions. There is not only the eternal debate between “pain au chocolat” and “chocolatine”. Some terms come from very specific corners of France. According to the Ministry of Culture, France has a linguistic heritage of great richness with “no less than 75 languages” including “regional languages traditionally spoken in part of the territory, non-territorial languages resulting from immigration, without geographical links with the territory of the Republic and practiced by French citizens for several generations and sign language”. The latest survey by Preply was interested in the subject and the use of these terms in everyday life.
A list was drawn up of those that were most used by asking the respondents, i.e. 1,500 people questioned at the beginning of 2024, if they had already heard them. Marseille vocabulary is widely represented. “Fada”, “emboucaner”, “minot”, “tarpin” and “dégun”, which respectively mean “crazy”, “take the lead”, “child”, “very” and “nothing”, are part of the top 10.
Bordeaux is also in the lead with two key terms: “gavé” which means “a lot” and pochon which means “plastic bag”. The famous “biloute” from the North is also at the top of the ranking. Less well-known, the Lyon term “pelo” or “guy” comes in seventh position. “Cagnard”, a Montpellier expression for the sun, climbs to ninth place.
If five Marseille expressions are very widespread, they are also considered ridiculous by 14.4% of respondents. However, on this criterion, the Southerners are overtaken by the Alsatians with 24.4%. Schluck (sip), schmoutz (kiss), schlopps (slippers), être schlass (to be tired), schatz (treasure) were categorized as the most ridiculous expressions. The difficulty of pronunciation would not play in their favor. The Lyon vocabulary completes the podium.
Conversely, while 18.5% of respondents believe that many regional expressions come from the Paris region, they are not among the top 10 most ridiculous, surpassed by those from Lille, Nantes, Bordeaux, Nice, Toulouse and Montpellier. However, Parisians do not lack expressions of their own, as highlighted The Figaro with “it’s great”, “let’s have lunch”, “it’s great”, “going to an after-party”…