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Argot and slang

Chapter 27: W
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About This Book

A bilingual dictionary compiling cant, slang, and colorful colloquialisms from modern French speech, presented alphabetically with English equivalents and illustrative quotations; it includes a preface on the compiler’s method and sources, notes on variant spellings and editorial choices, and selective etymological comments. Entries record usages from literature, journalism, and oral informants, with occasional archaic or eccentric terms retained for completeness. The work aims to help English readers interpret vernacular language found in contemporary fiction and social reportage, and it cites authorities and examples to clarify meanings while limiting extensive historical derivations.

W

Wagon, or wagon à bestiaux, m. (popular), dirty prostitute, “draggle-tail.” Wagon, large glass of wine.

Wallace, m. (popular), water.

Et comme il faut boire en mangeant,
Comme ils adorent boire à la fraîche, à la glace,
Comme ils ne veulent pas dépenser leur argent,
Ils s’ingurgitent du Wallace.
Richepin.

Wallacer (popular), to drink water at a fountain. Sir Richard Wallace has endowed Paris with numerous drinking fountains.

Wateri (Breton cant), to rain; to void urine.

Waterloo, m. (roughs’), the behind.

Watriniser (popular), to lynch. An allusion to the murder of the engineer, M. Watrin, by the Decazeville miners in 1886.

Wiou (Breton cant), no.