verlan means A type of backslang used in French, in which the order of the syllables or sounds of words is changed. Lexicurio rates it Sui generis — a strength score of 89 out of 100.
verlan is pronounced /vɛə(ɹ)ˈlɑːn/.
Why “verlan” is a great word
VERLAN — [Noun] A form of French slang in which the syllables or sounds of words are inverted. From French *verlan*, itself a verlan inversion of the phrase *à l'envers* ("upside down, back to front"). Unlike "argot" (a general term for the slang of a group) or "backslang" (a broader category of reversed-word play), verlan is a specific, generative grammar of concealment and identity. It is the conspiratorial breath turning *fou* into *ouf*, the street-corner mutter transforming *femme* into *meuf*, and the rhythmic scramble making *français* into *céfran*—a living lexicon that turns language inside out like a pocket, hiding and revealing in the same motion, to carve out a territory of the ear.
noun
- A type of backslang used in French, in which the order of the syllables or sounds of words is changed.