If you have ever visited the Phocaean city, you may have already been confused by local locutions. To prepare your next vacation, a short overview of the most common Marseille locutions.

Eat two pasta

Two pasta is not much. As you can see, this expression means that we ate very little because we simply had... not hungry.

Stuffing someone

If you are embroiled, it is because you are taken for an idiot, that you are told anything, or even that you are slightly scammed. Stay on your guard...

"Hey, Marcel, are you shooting or pointing?"

If you hear this in a park, don't worry: this expression does not concern you at all, it just means that a game of petanque is in progress.

Being badasse

Not to be confused with the English "bad ass" (which means "balese" in the sense of "cool"). A badasse is even rather the opposite: it is a stupid person (or who looks like one).

A big rapia

A rapia is a stingy, that is, someone who is close to his money. We usually use this word with "fat", because when we are stingy, we are rarely half-stingy.

Being Caned

Derived from the verb "caner", this adjective is synonymous with "punctured" or "death of fatigue", that is to say so exhausted that one is on the threshold of death.

Being impégué

This is often the solution when you are cané: put on a few glasses of pastis and end up stuffed. But in Marseille, we will say "empégué".

"Go throw yourself at the Goude"

This one is not nice: it's the local way to send you to be seen... And again, we use the verb "see" to remain polite ...

Face (or figure) of octopus

This expression, older than Pirates of the Caribbean, refers to an individual with unsightly features. If you are called that, answer that octopuses are very intelligent...

Being undermined like a caramentran

Another "compliment" that we prefer to avoid. The caramentran is a carnival character known for his deplorable style of dress.

  • French language
  • Vocabulary
  • Expression
  • Marseille
  • Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur
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