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French Slang ABCs: Expressions with the Letter I Posted by on Sep 15, 2010 in Culture, Vocabulary

From the letter ‘G’, nous sautons directement vers la lettre ‘I’ (we jump straight towards the letter ‘I’), since there aren’t any French slang words starting with ‘H‘ that belong to the “must know” category of argot that we have so far covered in this series, le B.A.-BA de l’Argot (The ABC of French Slang.)

“I comme…” (“I as in…”):

* Illico Presto:
Or sometimes just “illico.” This expression is used when you want something done right away, at once!!! 

Imagine for a second that you took a flight on Air France to Paris, and somehow they -by mistake, of course- sent your bagages (luggage) to Beijing, Sydney, or some other exotic destination, then you may scream at them something like: “Je veux mes affaires, illico presto !”
Another way of saying “illico presto” is “et que ça saute !” (“and make it snappy!”)


Je veux mes affaires, illico presto !!
“I wanna get my stuff back right away”

* * *

* Impeccable/Impec’:
Of course, it’s more of a colloquial way to say “impec“, meaning “awesome”, “perfect.”

Coming in a conversation:

– “Hé, ça va? La forme aujourd’hui ou quoi?” (“Hey, how’s it going? Feeling good today or what?”)

– “Ah oui, impec’ mec !” (“Oh yeah, awesome dude!”)

* Incrusteur/s’Incruster:
Think “Wedding Crashers” (the title of that movie in French is by the way “Serial Noceurs.”)

S’incruster [quelque part] means to “crash” something, like a party (to be a “party crasher” therefore), or even un mariage (a wedding)…
In general, “un incrusteur” has a meaning of someone who’s always “tagging along”, following you and your friends without being invited, until the very last minute, when you ultimately have no other choice but to tell them that they really have to leave! (And “illico presto”!)

Another common French colloquial way of calling such people is “pot de colle“, meaning a “cling-on”, or a “tag-along”!

Example: “Lâche-moi un peu! Je ne peux plus me blairer ce pot de colle !” (Something like “Give me a break! I can’t stand this cling-on anymore!”)

Here are again the links to the previous chapters of the B.A.-BA, listed alphabetically, for your utmost convenience:  

* B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘A’ (the ABC of French Slang: ‘A’)
* B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘B’ (the ABC of French Slang: ‘B’)
* B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘B’ [Cont.] (the ABC of French Slang: ‘B’ [Cont.])
* “C comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘C’)
* “C comme…(Ça Continue!)” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘C’ [cont.])
* “D comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘D’)
* “E comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘E’)
* “F comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘F’ [1] (the ABC of French Slang: ‘F’ [1])
* “F comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘F’ [2] (the ABC of French Slang: ‘F’ [2])
* More French Slang! B.A.-BA de l’Argot: “Lettre G” (1ère partie)
* More French SLANG! B.A.-BA de l’Argot: “Lettre G” (2ème partie)—and ATTENTION aux MEUPORGs!
* “GRATOS!” and other ‘G’ French Slang words (3ème partie)
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Comments:

  1. Niark:

    You should say “Lâche-moi un peu! Je ne peux plus blairer ce pot de colle !” without “me”.

    • Hichem:

      @Niark “Blairer” is a French slang verb which can be used in both reflexive and non-reflexive form, as in “Max Frisch” (Pro Helvetia, page 119): “Le souvenir d’un capitaine qui ne pouvait pas me blairer, ce qui était son bon droit […]”, the former form being indicative of a higher degree of repulsion than the latter
      🙂