Quote:
Originally Posted by zelda_pinwheel
(and what *is* balok doing these days ? we haven't heard from him in months....)
do you speak verlan over there ?
"verlan" is a slang language formed by putting the word back to front, and the name is (in the ultimate example of self-reference) in fact "backwards" ([à]l'envers) verlanisé (backwardsed) : l'en-vers > verlan. so a demonstration of what it describes.
some examples of verlan (which is of course spelled phonetically, rather than simply re-arranging the letters of the original word, which would be boring) :
chien = ienche
chat = tache
femme = meuf
mec = keum
à pied = à iep
mère = reum
parents = ramps
noir = renoi
arabe = beur
blanc = kéblan
you get the idea.
in recent years some people have even started to verlaniser words that are already in verlan. so : femme > meuf > feuhmeu. arabe > beur > reubeu.
if you don't use verlan, do you have a similar slang language ? there is a long tradition of slang languages in french, like javanais, the "muche" one (which probably has a name, but i don't know it), verlan, etc. and i'm wondering whether this is a universal francophone thing, or more common in france métropolitaine.
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There are several I can think of ... although I don't know what they are all called. The oldest I can remember was good old "Pig Latin" ... which was pretty simple really.
You just took the first letter of the word, and moved it to the back and then added "ay" at the end ... so ...
pig = igpay
woman = omanway
and on like that. Stupid ... but a lot of fun.