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Get ready to speak Javanese and add syllables all over the place! In Lyon, there’s a specific dialect that only a handful of elected officials master (well, the whole city…). Between the expressions and words we reinvent every day, it’s enough to make you lose your head when you hear a Lyonnais speak! But here, we give you a survival guide to understanding all the city’s incongruities. So pelo, get ready to chab this article!
1. One gone
You may have heard of Lyon as the capital of the Gones. Well, the gones are the kids. The word comes from the Greco-Roman word “gonos”, which also meant “child”. Lyon having been a Greco-Roman colony, this remains the most plausible expression to explain the use of this term. Today, it’s sometimes used to refer to the city’s inhabitants.
2. A pelo
In Lyon, pelo doesn’t mean hair as it does in Spain. Derived from Romani, a language close to Hindi mainly spoken by gypsy communities, the word already meant “man”. Today, it’s part of a popular vernacular. Pelo is more associated with “guy” or “guy” as in the sentence: “Le pelo y m’a mal chabé!”
3. The verb “chaber
Chaber simply means “to look”. Why? We don’t know. It’s also what makes language so mysterious. But if you do have an idea, don’t hesitate to let us know!
4. The adverb “cher
“Cher” is the equivalent of “gavé”, “trop”, “tarpin”, “grave”, “fin” and “fort” in other French regions. In Lyon, we say “c’est cher bon” or “il fait cher beau”. Don’t hesitate to accentuate the “e” for long seconds. The more you insist, the more you’re from Lyon! (Yes, that’s Cher the singer in the photo).
5. The famous “-av'” words
Finally, let’s talk about the famous Lyonnais toc: adding the syllable “-av” to every word. “Balnav'”, “dicav'”, “rodav'”, “pillav'”… We explain it all! These are also the traces of the Romani language. “Balnav'” means to lie or “pretend”. “Dicav'” means “to love”, “rodav'” means “to notice”, and “piav'” is “to drink” or “to booze”.
But Lyon has no limits. His love of this syllable transcends the simple use of ready-made words. Here, language is constantly being reinvented, thanks to Javanese. But what is Javanese? It’s a coded language in which syllables are added to the middle of words. For example, when talking about the famous “Part-Dieu” shopping center, some people will say “la pardav'”. A square like the Place Bellecour became the “plavace Bellecour”.
In context it could look like this: “Y fait trop balnav’ il y avait plus de gâche à la pardav’, mais j’ai rodav’ qu’il voulait pas prendre la vago parce qu’il a cher piav'”. Do you understand?
To find out more, we recommend you listen to this music by Casus Belli and this speech by Kacem DeLaFontaine. If you still don’t know who these two emblematic figures of Lyon are, we invite you to discover them. (These are actually beetav’ in the photo…)
6. Scrape it off
To show off simply means “to show off” or “to show off too much”. So, don’t rake it over the coals on this one. In context it might look like this: “Did you see how pelo is scraping it off with his new watch?”.
7. A strike plate
Far from the famous brioche often laced with rum, in Lyon, a gache means a place: parking, show or concert. You will often hear this: “Hey, did you bring your gache for tonight?”. So when you come to spend a few days in Lyon, you can say: “Hey stop scraping it with your vago! Don’t banav’ that you didn’t take my gache pelo, you’re such a worm!”
8. A trephined man
In Lyon, you’re not a madman, you’re a trepanzee. This word probably comes from the term used to describe a surgical operation in which the skull is pierced. Something very cheerful, in short.
9. Putting “y’s” everywhere and saying “what time is it?
These are not necessarily specific words or expressions. It’s more a question of a way of speaking peculiar to the gones (you know what it is by now). Putting “y “s all over the place is another matter specialities from Lyon. It’s common to hear phrases like : “I know it well”, “I’ll do it right away!” or “I’ll put the rubber to it”. But in Lyon (and more broadly in the Rhône-Alpes region), another phenomenon occurs: we say “c’est quelle heure?” for “il est quelle heure?” or “c’est comment?” for “comment tu vas?”.
10. The traboules
This time, it’s a Lyon-specific venue that makes an appearance, and it was impossible for us not to mention it as it’s so much a part of the local decor. We’ve already told you about the traboules in another article these 508 passages enable Lyon residents to get from one street to another. You’ll pass through a maze of almost secret corridors leading to majestic courtyards, only to emerge on the other side! These places have even become a verb: in Lyon, we traboule!
11. A canut
A canut was the name given to Lyon’s weavers of the time. Located in the Croix-Rousse district and its slopes, they worked silk on their looms. Even today, it’s not unusual to refer to local residents by this name. We also recommend cyrious’ fabulous title – LY a tribute to our beautiful capital of Gaul.
Fun fact: If you’ve heard of “cervelle de canut”, it’s a Lyonnais dish made with faisselle, herbs, onion and garlic. Nothing to do with a real brain, don’t worry.