October 21, 2008

Review: Dirty French by Adrien Clautrier & Henry Rowe


Courtesy of Mini Book Expo and Ulysses Press



Dirty French, Everyday Slang from “What’s Up?” to “F*%# Off!” was hilarious. The opening paragraph warns that this isn’t a beginner’s grammar book but a book designed to take your French to the next level. I’ve only had 1 year of French and this was over 18 years ago so that had me worried. Yes, my accent was very rusty, but I got though it and even if you don’t know any French at all you’d still find the sayings and musings in between delightfully funny.

This book includes phrases for every situation, including expressions for describing art that make one sound smart and cool. Use sweet words to entice a local beauty into a walk along the Seine, and less-then-philosophical rebuffs for those overly zealous, espresso-fueled cafe "poets." There are enough insults and swear words to offend every person in France without even speaking to them in English, which they really dislike.

Some of my favorites are below. I will censor to keep it clean but the book doesn’t and that makes it half the fun!!

• Whoops! You’re not my boyfriend. – Zut! T’es pas mon mec.
• Don’t S&#@ your pants! – Te chie pas!
• Did your girlfriend just fart? – C’est ta copine qu’a pet?
• My French boyfriend is a horndog. – Mon copain francais est un queuetard.

There are 9 chapters in the book so stick French after each of these words and you’ll get an idea of the awesome amount of swear words and dirty phrases you can learn: Howdy, Friendly, Party, Body, Horny, Angry, Poppy, Sporty and Hungry. (hey, that sounds like a new Snow White movie. LOL)

Oh and you can even learn to send Dirty French texts such as... "VTFF”
To find out what that means, I guess you’ll have to buy the book.

5 comments :

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a fun read. We lived in France for 2 years and our son went to school there. Of course, the first words he learned were "dirty." I had to call a French friend to find out what he was saying.

Tracy DeLuca said...

I need this book! LOL My DD is studying french and I could totally stump her. Actually, she is going to Paris in the Spring and I am wondering if some fo the phrases might be useful to her! LOL

Carolyn Sharkas said...

This sound hilarious! I don't know french, but I know the reputation the french people have and I think that would add to the fun.

Carolyn S

ceashark at aol dot com

cheryl c said...

What a crazy book! ;-) I hope to visit France someday, but I don't think I will need to know the vocabulary in this book.

Kathleen said...

Thanks for this review. I won Dirty Spanish from Mini Book Expo and am waiting for it to come!