[Main Index] [Author Resources]
URL:
[Quick Links: Introduction | Regular Words | Verbs | Phrases | Extras]
I was reading 'A Policeman's Lot Is Not A Happy One' by Salatrel the other day. In the beginning, before the story, she warns: "If you don't understand the argot, let that be a lesson to you--never skip book the seventh. Best part of the whole behemoth, is book the seventh. Ninteenth century vulgarity is good for confusing French teachers, whereas the modern variety gets one sent to the principal." Therefore, I composed this list, to help us understand it when we run across it in fan fic, or to use when we are writing such fic (or in the presence of French teachers :-)).
Argot is the language of the streets, the language used by the thieves, etc. of Les Miz, like Patron Minette. It's useful to know a bit if you plan to write a fic involving them, or if you're writing about Nôtre-Dame de Paris, in which it is used in the scenes involving the Court of Miracles, I believe. It helps you to write interesting phrases that no one understands, like "Le cab jaspine," (the dog barks) and "We are going to go picter a rouillarde encible," or something like that (we are going to go drink a bottle of wine together), both of which, by the way, are in the book.
So, I went through the book and collected as much as I could find. In bits and pieces the translation is difficult to decipher, so I believe I left out two or three of the words actually used in LM, but this is otherwise as complete as possible.
All of the argot below comes from Book Six: Little Gavroche, II, through Book Seven: Argot, II, or Cosette, as well as the robbery scene.
Regular Words
| acite | oil |
| antan | the past; yesteryear; formerly |
| arcasion | a devil |
| atiquer | executioner |
| barant | brook |
| bative | pretty |
| becquilard | executioner |
| bichot | bishop |
| blavin | handkerchief |
| boffette | blow |
| broque | penny |
| cab | dog |
| cadène | chain |
| carvel | boat |
| castus | dungeon |
| camoufle | a candle |
| camouflet | a blow (a punch) |
| chandelle | a candle |
| charlot | executioner |
| chique | church |
| cogne | police officer |
| colabre | neck |
| colas | neck |
| collège | prison |
| coquer | coquer |
| crampe | escape |
| criblements | cries |
| (le) dab | bourgeois |
| (la) dabuge | bourgeoise |
| dague | knife |
| digue | wife |
| dogue | dog |
| égrugeoir | church |
| empaffes | sheets |
| encible | together |
| fagot | prisoner |
| fandango | saw |
| fée | daughter |
| fertarche | straw |
| fertille | straw |
| fiques | clothes |
| frusques | clothes |
| gaffe | guard (as in to stand guard; "There's a grivier carrying a gaffe...") |
| gahisto | the devil |
| gail | horse |
| galifard | apprentice |
| gat | cat |
| gaye | horse |
| gendarme | soldier (can also mean police officer) |
| grivier | soldier |
| guedouze | death |
| guinal | Jew |
| larbin | lackey |
| lartif | bread |
| larton | bread |
| larton brutal | black bread |
| larton savonné | white bread |
| lirlonfa | prison song |
| limace | shirt |
| lingre | knife |
| loffe | stupid |
| longe | year |
| malade | arrested (literally "sick") |
| maltèse | crown |
| mariol | a devil |
| marroné | caught (in the act) |
| mènesse | woman (in a bad sense) |
| merloussière | cunning |
| môme | child |
| mort | condemned (literally "dead") |
| nousiergue | us |
| orgue | man |
| Pantin | Paris |
| pharos | general, préfet, or minister |
| pilche | box |
| pin | knife (the word is already an English word, so if you mess with the French words--put 'em in italics, etc.--don't bother with this one) |
| rabouin | the devil (also, the baker--the one who fills the oven) |
| raille | spy; police officer |
| rat | bread thief (also in English, but I imagine it'd be the same in French) |
| réguisé | tramp |
| riffe | fire |
| rouillarde | bottle of wine |
| rousse | police officer |
| roussi | sheep |
| roussin | police officer (also, stool pigeon) |
| sabri | forest |
| sinue | stupid |
| spade | sword |
| sorgabon | a good night |
| sorgue | night |
| surin | dagger |
| taf | fear or flight |
| taffeur | coward |
| tapissier | innkeeper |
| taule | executioner |
| tortouse | rope (argot of the Barrières) |
| trus | trade |
| vantane | window |
| widow | rope (argot of the Temples) |
| affurer | to rob |
| bonner | to tell |
| bouliner | to tear |
| colomber | to know |
| camoufler | to hide |
| décarrer | to go |
| emballer | to pick up or find |
| faucher | to cut up |
| frangir | to break |
| gambiller | to dance |
| goupiner | to work |
| jaspiner | to bark |
| morfiler | to eat |
| pioncer | to snooze ("Pioncez!" is the command form Gav uses his mômes) |
| panquer | to disguise |
| picter | to drink |
| renauder | to be angry |
| the Abbey of Monte à Regret | the scaffold |
| to beat him comtois | to get him to talk |
| to be played the harnache | to be duped |
| to be sleaved | to be judged |
| il lansquine | it rains |
| to make the lezards | to be done |
| manger le morceau | to inform, or tell on someone (i.e. be a stool pigeon), particularly using argot to do so (literally "to eat the morsel") |
| to unscrew the coco | to wring the neck |
| use your oche | listen |
| voir trente-six chandelles | to receive a blow (literally to "see the 36 candles" or "to see stars") |
| to wind up | to eat |
| kirikikiou | a call Montparnasse used to call Gavroche down from the elephant |
| icicaille | here |
| icigo | here |
"These are two words, icigo and icicaille, both meaning ici [here] and belonging, the first to the argot of the city gates, the second to the argot of the Temple, were glimmers of light to Thénardier. By icigo, he recoginized Brujon, who was a prowler of the city gates, and by icicaille Babet, who, among all his other trades, had been a secondhand dealer at the Temple. Babet was the only one who spoke it [Temple argot] quite purely." That may also help when you have those two talk to distinguish as best you can between the two argots. Another note on that: "Montparnasse['s]...elegance consisted in understanding all argots and speaking none." If a phrase contains the syllable dig five or six time under various forms, mingled in the phrase, it means "Watch out, we can't talk freely,"and usually warns of the presence of a police officer, as in a something Montparnasse says to Gavroche, "Listen to this, boy, if I were on the Square, with my dogue, my dague, and my digue, and if you were so prodigal as to offer me twenty fat sous, I wouldn't refuse to work for them, but this isn't Mardi Gras." | |
[Quick Links: Introduction | Regular Words | Verbs | Phrases | Extras | Back to Top]
[Main Index] [Author Resources]
URL: