French Language Blog

Lost in (Textos/SMS) Translation?

Posted on 11. Aug, 2010 by Hichem in Uncategorized

First of all, today is the first day of Ramdan, so I’d like to wish a Joyeux Ramadan to all!
Pour rappel (as a reminder), Ramadan is the holy month of fasting for muslims all over the world. The fasting period starts at l’aube (dawn) and ends at the time of le crépuscule (sunset.)

* * *

About two years ago, an American friend of mine was visiting Paris for the first time, so I introduced him via Facebook to some French friends who live in Paris. They exchanged contacts and were very happy to meet, since he wanted to visit the city and practice his français, and they were happy as well since it was a chance for them to get in touch again with English, which they haven’t done since studying it in Boston for a semester…

To make a long story short: As they were supposed to meet, one of my French friends sent a texto to my American friend, telling him where and when to meet… Needless to say that mon ami américain was throughly “lost in translation”… 

To make sure you are au courant (aware) of the “textos/SMS” lingua, I have compiled for you a few must-know abbreviations that you’d be sure to see in a French text message, or even while chatting on MSN, Skype, or Facebook chat!

Voici une petite liste (here’s a short list):

* A+ or @+: means “À plus“, like “later”, or “l8r”.
* ALP: “À la prochaine“: Next time.
* ASV: “Âge, Sexe, Ville”, the equivalent of the English “ASL”, or “Age/Sex/Location”.
* ATT: “à tout à l’heure“, as in “see you pretty soon”.
* auj: Abbreviation for “aujourd’hui”, meaning “today”.
* b1sur: “Bien sûr“: Of course. The “1″, “un“, makes up for the syllable “-ien.”
* bcp: “Beaucoup“: Very much, as in “merci bcp” (thanks a lot).
* bjr: Just short for bonjour !
* bsr: Short for bonsoir !
* C or Cé: Stands for “C’est”, meaning “It’s” or “it is”.
* c-a-d: “C’est-à-dire”. It means “it means” (really, no joke…)
* cho: “chaud”, that’s “hot”.
* Chui: “Je suis”, meaning “I am”.
* dac: “D’accord”, which is “OK”.
* DSL: “Désolé“: Sorry!
* DQP: Acronym for “Dès que possible”, or ASAP (As soon as possible!)
* EDR or MDR: Either one, “Écroulé de dire” or “Mort de rire”, they mean LOL!
* ENTK: “En tout cas”, means ”in any case”.
* G: Just like C/c’est, this one stands for “J’ai“, i.e. “I have”. As in “G la N“, I hate something, or “I H8″!
* J C: “Je sais”, meaning “I know”.
* jms: “Jamais”, never.
* JTM: “Je t’aime”, I love you.
* KAN: Short for “quand“, when.
* KOI29″: What’s up, or “Quoi de neuf”: 2 = de, 9 =neuf.
* Mr6: “Merci”! Thx!
* OK1: “Aucun“, “none” or ”no one”.
* Oué: “Ouais“, yeah.
* P2K: “Pas de quoi”, meaning ”you’re welcome” (…not “your”!)
* PK: “Pourquoi“, meaning “why”, or “Y”?
* QQN: “Quelqu’un“: Someone or “some1″
* RAS: This abbreviation probably comes from the army: “Rien à signaler”, or “nothing to report”. Nothing new, basically.
* RE: Meaning “I’m back”.
* STP or SVP: “S’il te plait”, “please”.
* TDS: “Tout de suite“, “at once”, or “right away”!
* TJS: “Toujours“, ”always”.
* TNKT: Means “T’inquiètes“, or “t’inquiètes pas”, meaning “don’t worry” or “no worries”.
* Tt: Short for “tout”, all.
* V1: “Viens”, come.
* X: Since the same word for cross in French ”Croix” is the same for the verb croire (to believe) for the second, you can use just an X, as in “Crois-moi“ or “X moi“, (believe me!)
* Y a: “Il y a”, meaning “there is”.

Bon allez, I tell you à toute mes amis, or ATT!

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