Lesson Transcript

Welcome to French Culture Class by FrenchPod101.com!
If you receive a text message from your French friend that only says ALP, would you know what that means?
Salut, je suis Pierre.
Hi everyone! I’m Pierre.
In this lesson, you’ll learn all about French texting slang.
In France, many people use slang when they text.
It’s almost like an entirely different language in itself! Being able to understand and use it correctly will help you make French friends and keep in contact with them.
In this video you'll learn about French abbreviations and texting slang.
Let’s start with abbreviations useful to convey basic emotions.
We all know about emojis, but there are some French abbreviations that you can use to tell someone how you’re feeling!
I’ll explain these one by one.
Here are the most common abbreviations to express laugh.
JPP
[SLOW] JPP
This is used for J’en peux plus.
[SLOW] J’en peux plus.
It means "I can’t stop laughing," or literally "I can’t stand this anymore."
Next up are
MDR and PTDR
MDR is used for Mort de rire
[SLOW] Mort de rire, which means LOL or literally "Dead from laughter."
Many people also use the English LOL. There is also a French teenage movie called LOL!
It was directed by Lisa Azuelo and it’s starring the famous actress Sophie Marceau.
PTDR is used for Pété de rire.
[SLOW] Pété de rire which means LMAO, ROFL, or literally "Bursting from laughter."
Let’s see now the two most common abbreviations related to love.
The first one is JTM
[SLOW] JTM
This stands for Je t’aime
[SLOW] Je t’aime, which, as you may already know, means “I love you.”
“X” is very common in French text messages. It stands for Bisous.
[SLOW] Bisous
Which means “kiss” or “XOXO”
It’s common to use this abbreviation between friends.
For example: A demain XXX.
[SLOW] A demain XXX.
Which means "See you tomorrow XOXO."
Next are the abbreviations used to reassure someone.
For example, if you are late and you send a message to your French friend, they might reply using one of these abbreviations to reassure you that everything is ok.
The first one is TKT
[SLOW] TKT
This is the short version for T’inquiète or, more formally, Ne t’inquiète pas.
[SLOW] Ne t’inquiète pas.
They both mean "Don’t worry."
Here is an example:
Tkt j’ai géré l’exam.
[SLOW] Tkt j’ai géré l’exam.
"No worries, I aced the test."
Another common one is OKLM
[SLOW] OKLM
When you read this abbreviation following the French pronunciation rules, it sounds like Au calme
[SLOW] Au calme
This literally means "In a calm place" and you can use it to mean that you’ve found your peace of mind.
Let’s see now how to show agreement.
These are the three most common abbreviations.
The first one means D’accord
[SLOW] D’accord
Which means "OK", or literally "Of an agreement."
You can see three different versions.
Dacc, Dac, or Dak
Next is TLM
[SLOW] TLM
Which is the shortened version of tellement
[SLOW] tellement
You can use TLM to mean "so true!"
You can use also Grave
[SLOW] Grave
Which means "totally" or "so true!"
THis is not only used for texting. For example, if someone tells you
Ce film est grave bien!
"This movie is so good!"
You can reply with
Grave!
"So true!"
There are also some abbreviations to show sadness. The most common one is Snif
[SLOW] Snif
It’s an onomatopoeia and corresponds to the English “sob.” Here is an example:
Snif tu peux pas venir à la soirée !
[SLOW] Snif tu peux pas venir à la soirée !
"So sad you can’t come to the party!"
Finally, let’s see the abbreviations used to mock someone. Be sure to use these only with close friends!
The first one is MSK
[SLOW] MSK
It stands for miskine which is an Arabic word meaning “idiot.”
Use the next one with great caution.
RAF
[SLOW] RAF
This stands for Je n’en ai rien à faire
[SLOW] Je n’en ai rien à faire
which means "I don’t care."
Depending on the context, this can also assume a stronger and explicit meaning, so be sure to avoid it unless you’re texting a close friend.
Now we’ll see some good etiquette abbreviations.
Even when you are texting a friend, you have to make sure to include greetings and to be polite. Here are some useful abbreviations.
Some of these are also used in professional emails, so be sure to take note!
When you are in a hurry, but you want to include a greeting anyway, be sure to use one of these.
Bjr stands for Bonjour
[SLOW] Bonjour
It means “Hello.”
Bsr is short for Bonsoir
[SLOW] Bonsoir
"Good evening”
CC is short for Coucou which means "Hey there.”
RE stands for Retour
[SLOW] Retour
"I’m back online" You can use it as a signal to restart the conversation.
SLT stands for Salut
[SLOW] Salut "Hi"
A more slangs abbreviation is WSH which stands for Wesh
[SLOW] Wesh
You can translate it as ”Hey" or "Yo".
Here are the abbreviations to say “goodbye.”
You can type A+ to mean A plus tard
[SLOW] A plus tard
"See you later"
You can type A tt instead of A tout à l’heure
[SLOW] A tout à l’heure
This corresponds to ”BRB” “Be right back" OR "see you later," literally "in a few hours"
ALP is the shortened version of A la prochaine
[SLOW] A la prochaine
"See you next time”
When you need to apologize when you need to apologize for something not serious, you can use DSL or Déso
They both stand for Désolé
[SLOW] Désolé
“Sorry”
Finally let’s check some formal abbreviations.
The first one is RSVP, which sometimes is used also in English.
RSVP stands for Répondez s’il vous plait.
[SLOW] Répondez s’il vous plait
This literally means "Answer please."
RSVP can also stands for Retournez s’il vous plait.
[SLOW] Retournez s’il vous plait
This means "flip please.”
You can see this at the bottom of a document. It means that the document is two-sided and you have to flip it.
STP is the abbreviation for S’il te plaît
[SLOW] S’il te plaît
"Please"
SVP is S’il vous plaît
[SLOW] S’il vous plaît
This also means “Please"
RAS is Rien à Signaler
[SLOW] Rien à Signaler
"Nothing to report"
The internet is full of text limits. Some sites, like Twitter or some forums, only allow a certain number of characters. That’s why there are many abbreviations for common words. Let’s see some together.
Here are some adverbs and linking words.
CAD stands for C’est-à-dire
[SLOW] C’est-à-dire
this means “that is" or “namely"
BCP is Beaucoup
[SLOW] Beaucoup
"A lot"
You can type Dc instead of Donc
[SLOW] Donc
it means “so”
Now, let’s see some nouns.
MSG stands for message
[SLOW] Message
"Message"
PB is Problème
[SLOW] Problème
"Problem"
For example Pas de problème "No problem." is often shortened as
Pas de pb
Other common abbreviations are PK or PKoi and JSP.
PK or PKoi is the abbreviation for Pourquoi "Why?"
JSP stands for Je ne sais pas
[SLOW] Je ne sais pas
It corresponds to "IDK" or "I don’t know."
Sometimes we simply type NSP, which is short for Ne sait pas, meaning "Does not know"
Finally, let’s quickly check a few abbreviations made by single letters or numbers.
These are not very common nowadays and they look childish.
I advise you not use them, but to remember their meaning in case you see someone using them on Twitter where the number of characters is limited.
The first is the number 2. This is used for de, which means “of.”
Next is G. This is used for J’ai, which means “I have.”
Then there is C. This is C’est, which means “It is.”
é is short for est, which means “is.”
12C4 is short for Un de ces quatre; “someday.”
2vant is Devant, or “in front of.”
In this lesson you learned common abbreviations and slang that are used in text messages by French people. With these you can arrange meetings, express your emotions, and just say "hi" to your friends.
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That’s it for today!
See you next time!
A la prochaine!

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