GOING OUT A notorious night-bird wrote a book in which he tells of the restless nights he used to spend wandering around Paris. Nowadays, urban heroes sleep and rest during daytime. It's only in the evening that they come back to life. If you are tempted to try la vie nocturne, here is a list of expressions that should help you answer the usual question: Qu'est-ce qu'on fait ce soir ? Places to go Un restau, un resto: short for un restaurant. Qu'est-ce qu'on fait ce soir ? Where shall we go tonight? On se fait un restau ? (*) Shall we eat out?
Un bistrot (*) A bar or café. Linguists can't agree on the origins of this old word. What matters is that it has survived and that it's still very popular.
Une boîte (de nuit): Lit. A (night) box. A (night) club. On va en boîte ? (*) Fancy going clubbing?
Une teuf (*v=fête) A party Fê/te became te/fê. The final ê was taken out, leaving us with te/f, pronounced teuf. On fait une teuf à la "son-mai" ? (*) Shall we do a party at home? Son-mai is verlan of maison, house.
Un cinoche (*) Slang for un cinéma. On se fait un cinoche ? (*) Fancy seeing a film?
La téloche (*) Slang for la télévision. You don't always want to go out every night. But this shouldn't prevent you from sounding cool when telling your friends about it the next day. Hier soir, j'ai maté la téloche. (*) Last night, I watched the telly.
Une bouffe entre potes (*) A nosh-up with friends. This is how most evenings start.
Une soirée cool dans mon caleçon (*) Lit. A cool evening in my underpants. An evening bumming around at home. Hier soir, j'ai passé une soirée cool dans mon caleçon. (*) Last night, I just bummed around at home.
Une soirée pyjama (*) For girls - staying at home. A plan Un plan (*) Lit. A plan. This small word can mean different things. It can mean your plans for the evening: Pour ce soir, j'ai un super-plan. (*) I have a great evening planned. It can also mean a situation in general: Cette fête, c'est un plan pourri. (*) This party sucks. Lit. This party, it's a rotten plan. It can also designate a hint, a tip, a piece of advice: Laurent m'a donné un bon plan-resto. (*) Laurent told me about a great restaurant. Lit. Laurent gave me a good restaurant plan.
Un plan d'enfer (*) Lit. A plan from hell. A great idea/plan. Un plan pourave - un plan galère (*) Lit. A rotten plan. Pourave comes from pourri, rotten. The suffix -ave gives it an edge. Anyway, if it's rotten, it's rubbish. Un plan moisi (*) Lit. A mouldy plan. Same meaning as pourave. All these expressions, d'enfer, pourave, moisi can also apply to anything else (things, situations, etc.) The day after J'ai la gueule de bois (*) Lit. I have the wooden head. I have a hangover. Very old expression. It's been, is and will be used and understood by all: the side effects of alcohol never change!
J'ai la tête dans le seau (**) Lit. I've got my head in the bucket. The morning after your body sometimes rejects the liquids that you weren't sensible enough to refuse the night before.
J'ai la tête dans le cul (***) I'm feeling upside down. Lit. I've got my head in my bum. No matter what this phrase actually means, it expresses rather well how unpleasant the morning after can sometimes be.
On se fait un "after" ? (*) Lit. Shall we make an after. To carry on (drinking) until the early morning