Oyez, oyez ! We’re now officiellement about to cover la première moitié (the first half) of the alphabet in our featured “B.A.-BA de l’argot” (“the ABC of French Slang”), and in order to properly celebrate this one happy occasion, we shall concentrate today on one and only expression which, in many funny ways, epitomizes French Slang: “LAISSE BÉTON !“

“L Comme…” (“L as in…”):

* L  A  I  S  S  E
B   É   T   O   N   ! :

Even if you knew the meaning of each one of these two words separately, it’d be impossible for you to understand what the overall expression means, unless you’re already acquainted with the French concept of verlan !

Like we saw in previous posts of the B.A.-BA, the French word “verlan” means backslang. So, in this case, “béton” -which otherwise would literally mean “concrete” (the construction material, that is)- is in fact a backslang for the verb “tomber“, or “to fall” in English.

A funny rendering of the famous Renaud song “Laisse béton”, translating most of the lyrics from French Slang into their literal -and at times, “concrete”- meaning…

Combining both verbs, laisser (to let) and tomber (to fall) would give us “laisser tomber“, which means “to let fall”, or to just “drop” something.

A friend of yours would tell you: “Allez, laisse béton, on s’en va !“, that would mean: “Come on, drop it (or forget it), let’s just go!”

So, if after all this, if you still don’t get it, then, well, just “laisse béton” 🙂

Once again, the links to the previous posts are listed here alphabétiquement.
Les voici, les voilà:

– A: * B.A.-BA de l’Argot: ‘A’ (the ABC of French Slang: ‘A’)
– B: * 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: * “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: * “D comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘D’)
– E: * “E comme…” B.A.-BA de l’Argot (the ABC of French Slang: ‘E’)
– F: * “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])
– G: * 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)
– I:     * ‘I’ comme “Illico Presto!”—and more from le B.A.-BA de l’Argot (The ABC of French Slang)
– J:  * Madame JE-SAIS-TOUT (and more of the ABC of French Slang!)
– K: “Hey KEUM, Tu KIFFES l’argot ou KOI?” (an enKore of the ABC of French Slang) 

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