French words from the North of France (Nord et Nord-Pas-de-Calais)
I have no idea why, but today I have noticed more local words in my conversations with people - so here is a list of the words you would most likely hear in the Nord and not elsewhere, and/or that originated here. Many of them, however, are used in other regions or at least known to most people.
1. Dracher. Ex : Il va dracher toute la journée ! This means that it will rain heavily. Fun fact, in Scots, Dreich means wet, dull, gloomy, dreary, or any combination of these. Though it is likely there are no common roots (dracher certainly comes from draschen in Flamish), I love that the feeling you get from both words is somewhat similar. Miserable and wet weather.
2. Babache. Ex : Mais t'es babache ou quoi ? It means stupid, slow. It is not very insulting. It is more often used as an adjective.
3. Wassingue. Ex : C'est trempé, passe-moi la wassingue. A mop.
4. Braire. Ex : Arrête de braire ! To cry (loudly), as the primary meaning of the word is the sound made by donkeys.
5. Targniole. Ex : Arrête de braire ou tu vas te prendre une targniole ! A slap, to get brutally slapped in the face.
6. Je te dis quoi. Ex : Attend qu'il nous appelle puis on te dit quoi ! It can be literally translated as 'I tell you what', but here the what isn't asking for more information/expressing interrogation, it means 'what will happen/how things will go'. This is often the reason for quiprocos between nordistes and parisians.
7. Caboche. Ex : Mais t'as rien dans la caboche ? (Don't you have anything in the head?) Caboche alone means head (J'ai mal à la caboche). Having nothing in the caboche means you are not very bright.
8. Petit pain. Ex : Prends-moi deux petits pains à la boulangerie. It means pain au chocolat. An alternative that I have sometimes heard is petit pain au chocolat.
9. Carabistouilles. Ex : Elle ne raconte que des carabistouilles. It basically means that something is nonsense/harmless lies (bêtises, balivernes). My grandmother always says tarabistouilles and even though she may have invented it, I think it's very nice. In Ch'ti: carabistoulles.
10. Crayon de bois. Ex : Il me faut un crayon de bois pour le cours d'arts-plastiques. A pencil.
Now onto the words/expressions I have always used but didn't know they were specifically from the North:
11. Vingt(e). The number 20 but we pronounce the t. I have actually always felt not pronouncing the t made you sound less serious.
12. Être à pied de chaussettes. Ex : Dans cette maison, on est tous à pied de chaussettes. To wear only socks.
13. A toute Berzingue. Ex : Ce fou furieux roulait à toute berzingue. At full speed.
14. Décarocher. Ex : Le pauvre homme, il décaroche complètement. To lose one's mind. There is this idea of slowly losing grip on things, falling. It is often used in a humorous/emphatic way but the primary meaning remains too.
15. Nonoche. Ex : T'es complètement nonoche ou quoi ? Simpleton.
16. Si ça tombe. Ex : Si ça tombe il s'est perdu et ne nous trouvera pas. Maybe/perhaps/if things are like they could be/if anything. It really is hard to translate the connotation here. It comes from the expression "Si ça se trouve", which refers to a possibility or eventuality that is less likely to happen than 'maybe', and I would argue that the former is a bit more fatalist/serious (tomber is more brutal).
17. Tout partout. Ex : Il a fait tomber la farine, y'en a tout partout ! Everywhere; you are insisting on the fact it really is all everywhere.
18. A c't'heure. Ex : Y'a plus rien d'ouvert à c't'heure. At this time of the day, literally at this hour. More often used by older generations (40+) but not exclusively.
Quand on vient dans le Nord on braie 2 fois : quand on arrive et quand on repart !








