French internet and texting slang for greetings
- slt: salut (hi)
- lut, lu: less common slang for salut (hi)
- cc: coucou (hi)
Note that coucou is a cutesy greeting used when talking to children, between women friends, or from a woman to a man she’s very friendly with, like a brother or childhood friend, and possibly with family.
- bjr: common slang for bonjour
- bsr: bonsoir (good evening)
- biz: bisous (kiss)
This is a common, very informal sign-off used with close friends, your significant other, and possibly family members. It’s the rough equivalent of XOXO in English.
You may be wondering why this term is used, when it takes just as many letters to type out good old ça va. The reason is that it’s easier to type a regular “s” than a ç…although nowadays with autocorrect, that’s not always the case.
- b1: bien (good)
- é twa: et toi (and you)
- a +: à plus tard (see you later)
- @+: another way to say à +
- a tt: à toute à l’heure (see you soon/see you in a few hours)
Polite French internet and texting slang
Even when you use internet or texting slang, it’s important to be polite in French. These little words can go a long way. You can sometimes find them in professional communications like interoffice emails or replies from online vendors or customer service messages, too.
- stp: s’il te plaît (informal ‘please’)
- svp: s’il vous plaît (formal ‘please’)
- dsl: désolé(e)
- cdlt: Cordialement (Warmly/Sincerely/Cordially).
- c: c’est (it is)
- g: j’ai (I have)
- ss, chuis: suis (am)
- T: t’es (you are)
- fo: faut (we must) OR faux (wrong)
- ya: il y a (there is, there are)
- ki: qui (who)
- koi, kwa: quoi (what)
- keske: qu’est-ce que (what)
ouf: fou (crazy – in a good or bad way). This word is verlan, a form of French slang where a word’s syllables are reversed.
H24: 24 hours a day
pb: problème
id: idée (idea)
nrv: énervé (angry)
c cho: c’est chaud. This phrase literally means “It’s hot”. You use it to say something is difficult or you find something shocking.
cpg: C’est pas grave. An informal way to say Ce n’est pas grave (‘No worries’).
auj: aujourd’hui (today)
bcp: beaucoup (a lot).
cad or càd: c’est-à-dire (that is to say). This is a more official abbreviation that can often be used in a more formal context.
d’ac: d’accord (OK/all right)
ok: same as in English
lol: laughing out loud. Same as in English.
Interestingly, if a French person says this out loud for some reason, they don’t pronounce it letter-by-letter as English speakers do; instead, they say it as a word, which sounds like the English word “loll”. You’ll hear this used in French conversations from time to time, often in a sarcastic way.
mdr: mort de rire (dying laughing). This is the official French equivalent of lol.
While many French equivalents aren’t used as much as their “cooler” English slang counterparts, that’s not the case with mdr. I often see it used interchangeably with lol. On the other hand, I’ve never heard a French person say it out loud the way they might say lol. But either one of these abbreviations is perfectly cool and good to use when communicating with a French person online or via text message.
ptdr: pété de rire (literally “exploding with laughter”). This is a rough equivalent of LMFAO or ROFL in English.
I don’t see this used nearly as much as lolor mdr, and that makes sense to me, since the French don’t tend to exaggerate emotions as much as we Anglophones do.
gg: good game. This is mostly used by gamers.
com dab: comme d’habitude (as usual)
jtm: je t’aime (I love you).
This is an essential slang term for all French teenagers. But if you’re older and really want to sincerely declare your love to someone, it’s best to actually spell it out.
jms: jamais (never)
msg: message
texto: text message.
Text messages in France are informally and commonly referred to as either un texto or un sms.
sms : text message.
This word actually comes from the English acronym “Short Message System”. Some Anglphone countries use “sms” as a way to say “text message”, as well.
qqn: quelqu’un (someone)
ras: rien à signaler (all’s well)
rdv: rendez-vous (meeting).
Contrary to English, in French rendez-vous doesn’t necessarily have a romantic or sexual context. It just means “meeting”, “meet-up”, or “appointment”. You can have a rendez-vous with a doctor or a friend, for example.
re: de retour (back).
This is what you write to notify someone that you are back in the conversation after leaving it for a while.
snif: I’m sad. This English-inspired onomatopoeia indicates sad sniffling.
nn: non (no)
tlm: tout le monde (everyone)
tjs: toujours (always)
tt: tout (all, everything)
c tt: c’est tout (that’s all)
vrt: vraiment (really)
tg: ta gueule (shut up). This is a very vulgar way to say “Shut up” and can even sometimes be downright aggressively rude, although it could be meant in a joking way among friends. So use it carefully.
vdm: vie de merde. This is the French equivalent of the English abbreviation FML (Fuck my Life).
