#37 French Expressions Originating from the Internet

The spread of the Internet and social media has changed the language we use in everyday life. French is no exception, and many expressions have emerged from online communication, while other words have become widely used alongside the growth of the Internet.

For example, French has the expression mdr. It is an abbreviation of mort de rire (dying of laughter / laughing very hard) and is similar to the English expression LOL (laughing out loud). There are also examples of English-derived words being used as French verbs, such as liker and poster.

Looking at these expressions shows that the Internet has not simply created new words. It has also influenced the ways in which abbreviations are formed and foreign words are incorporated into French.

In this article, I will introduce French words that originated on the Internet and expressions that became widespread online, while examining how the Internet has influenced the French language.

1. New French Words Are Emerging Alongside the Internet

When new technologies and services appear, new words are needed to describe things and actions that did not previously exist.

The spread of the Internet has also brought significant changes to French vocabulary. As websites, social media, and online communication have become part of everyday life, a variety of words related to them have come into use.

Today, for example, the following terms are used:

• blogueur / blogueuse — blogger
• internaute — Internet user
• réseaux sociaux — social media, social networks
• mot-dièse — hashtag
• infox — false information, fake news

Some of this new vocabulary is borrowed directly from English, while other words are created by combining existing French elements or parts of other words.

For example, internaute was formed by combining Internet with the suffix -naute, which is used in words referring to navigators or travelers. Today, it is used in French to refer to a person who uses the Internet.

Similarly, infox, a French term corresponding to the English expression fake news, was formed from information(information) and intox (disinformation or manipulative information).

On the other hand, English words such as blog and hashtag have also been adopted and are widely used in French.

In this way, as new concepts related to the Internet have emerged, French has adapted by borrowing foreign words and creating new terms from existing vocabulary.

Internet-related vocabulary demonstrates that new technologies not only transform society but also bring changes to the language we use in everyday life.

2. Abbreviations Are Commonly Used on the Internet

One particularly noticeable feature of online French is the frequent use of abbreviations for words and phrases.

In chats and on social media, people often communicate by quickly typing short messages. As a result, abbreviating frequently used expressions to just a few characters became common. In the era when SMS messaging was particularly widespread, limits on the number of characters that could be sent in a single message also encouraged the development of various abbreviated forms designed to convey information using as few characters as possible.

Some common examples include the following:

• mdr
  → An abbreviation of mort de rire, used to mean something similar to “laughing out loud” or “dying of laughter.”
• ptdr
  → An abbreviation of pété de rire. Like mdr, it indicates intense laughter. It is highly informal and can be found in messages between people who know each other well and on social media.
• jsp
  → An abbreviation of je sais pas, meaning “I don’t know.” Rather than being based on the standard written form je ne sais pas, it further shortens the commonly used spoken form je sais pas.
• stp
  → An abbreviation of s’il te plaît, meaning “please” or “could you…?” Like the original expression, it is generally used when addressing someone with whom you have a familiar relationship.
• svp
  → An abbreviation of s’il vous plaît. Although s’il vous plaît is more polite than s’il te plaît, the abbreviated form svpmay be used in emails, messages, and other relatively concise forms of communication.
• pk / pq
  → Abbreviated forms of pourquoi, meaning “why.” These forms reduce the number of characters needed and allow the word to be typed more quickly.

Many other abbreviations also exist, including bjr (bonjour), bcp (beaucoup), qqn (quelqu’un), and qqch (quelque chose).

These abbreviations are formed in various ways, such as omitting part of a word, retaining mainly its consonants, or combining the initial letters of several words.

It is important to note that such abbreviations are primarily used in casual online communication. In formal writing and professional documents, standard spelling should generally be used.

3. Many Internet Terms Come from English

Because the English-speaking world has played a major role in the development of the Internet, many English-derived Internet terms have been adopted into French.

For example, the following English-derived words are used in French:

• un blog
• un post
• un like
• un selfie
• un hashtag
• un follower

On social media in particular, new services and features are often introduced around the world under English names, and these names may subsequently be used unchanged in French. As a result, English-derived expressions are especially common in Internet-related French vocabulary.

English words are not only used in their original forms. They can also be incorporated into the French grammatical system and acquire new uses.

For example, the verb liker was formed from the English word like and can be used in expressions such as liker une publication (to like a post).

Furthermore, liker is treated as an -er verb in French and is therefore conjugated in the same way as other French verbs.

• Je like cette photo.
  — I like this photo.
• J’ai liké cette photo.
  — I liked this photo.

In this way, Internet terms derived from English can become part of French vocabulary by taking grammatical gender as nouns or by becoming verbs through the addition of -er.

4. Pronunciation-Based Spellings Are Also Used

In casual French on the Internet, standard spelling is sometimes deliberately altered to create forms that more closely reflect actual pronunciation.

For example, qu’est-ce que may sometimes be written as keske. This is not standard French spelling, but it represents the sound of the expression using a simpler combination of letters.

Parts of words and expressions may also be replaced with letters or numbers that have similar sounds. Such forms were particularly common during the era when SMS messaging was widespread, as they helped reduce the number of characters that needed to be typed.

Examples include:

• demain → 2m1
• à demain → a 2m1

In these forms, the sounds produced by the number 2 (deux), the letter m, and the number 1 (un) are combined to approximate the pronunciation of demain. In other words, the sounds associated with numbers and letters are combined to reproduce a form resembling the original expression.

There are also forms such as c’est → c and j’ai → g, in which the names of individual letters are used in place of expressions with similar pronunciations.

As smartphones became widespread, the need to minimize the number of characters became less important than it had been in the SMS era. Consequently, abbreviations that make extensive use of numbers are less common than they once were. Nevertheless, pronunciation-based spellings and deliberately altered forms can still be found on social media and in online chats.

5. French on the Internet Is Constantly Changing

Language used on the Internet changes particularly rapidly compared with many other forms of French.

One reason is that social media and video-sharing platforms allow new expressions to spread to large numbers of people within a short period. A word that begins within a particular community can spread through posts, videos, and other online content and eventually become an established part of everyday online communication.

At the same time, trends change quickly. An expression frequently used among young people at one point may sound outdated only a few years later. Conversely, a word that originally emerged as Internet slang may spread into everyday conversation and eventually become a widely used expression.

Distinctive expressions and turns of phrase may also emerge depending on factors such as age, community, and the online services people use.

In this way, new words can emerge rapidly on the Internet, while others disappear or acquire new meanings. These changes provide one example of how contemporary French continues to develop in response to changes in society and communication.

6. Summary

The spread of the Internet has had a significant influence on French vocabulary and expressions.

The main points can be summarized as follows:

Some expressions that originate on the Internet remain temporary trends, while others become established in everyday life and eventually form part of the broader French vocabulary.

Understanding these linguistic changes can also provide insight into how the French language continues to develop in response to changes in society and technology.

Izumi Miyajima

Writer

I’m a Japanese writer and language enthusiast with a deep interest in France. Through my articles, I explore the French language, history, and culture.