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Ten Charming & Essentials French Words

by Sev

In today’s lesson, we’re having a little chat—or as the French say, we’re going to papoter! I’ve gathered 10 charming and essential French words that will instantly add some local flavor and playfulness to your vocabulary 🇫🇷

Practice with the cheat sheet here:

👉  You can find the cheat sheet here: Download the cheat sheet! 

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#1 Ten charming and essential French words

First, we will go through each of the 10 words one by one:

  1. Rikiki = tiny, itsy bitsy
  2. Poudre de perlimpinpin : snake oil, pixie dust
  3. Fastoche = easy peasy
  4. Une tatane = shoes, sandals, slides
  5. La tambouille = food, grub
  6. Tournicoter = to swirl, to go round and round, to circle
  7. Pétaouchnok = in the middle of nowhere, nowheresville, an isolated place far removed from normal cities and towns
  8. Un bidule = Thingy, contraption
  9. Papoter = to chat
  10. Un bigoudi = a hair curler

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#2 Ten examples with charming and essential French words

Let’s practice with these examples! Sometimes you need more details, explanations, or you want to make sure to be understood! 

  1. Cette chambre est vraiment rikiki ! = This bedroom is really tiny!
  2. Leurs promesses, c’est de la poudre de perlimpinpin! = Their promises, that’s snake oil!
  3. Cet entrainement est fastoche ! = This practice is easy peasy!
  4. Mets des tatanes pour aller à plage ! Put on some slides/sandals to go to the beach!
  5. Qui va préparer la tambouille ce soir ? = Who’s preparing food tonight?
  6. Un moustique tournicote autour de toi ! = a mosquito is circling around you.
  7. Je dois aller à pétaouchnok pour faire réparer mon ordi ! = I have to go in the middle of nowhere to get my computer fixed!
  8. C’est quoi le bidule par terre ? What’s the thingy/contraption on the ground ?
  9. J’aime bien papoter au téléphone pendant des heures. I like chatting on the phone for hours.
  10. Oh là là, comment tu arrives à dormir avec des bigoudis ? = Oh My Goodness, how do you manage sleeping with hair curlers?